Love.

You know what? It's Valentine's Day. And I'm single. AND I LOVE IT. What more can I want than a Jesus who loves me so, so, so very perfectly. Mmmm. It's beautiful and gorgeous and I just love it. Anyways, it's been an interesting weekend. A lot of revelations, you might say. And I was trying to think of what I could post for the special holiday, and I remembered a note I wrote on Facebook a few months back. And because I am tired and I think I'm just going to sit and do more Jesus lovin', I'm simply going to repost it here. So, enjoy.

"I had the most incredible dream last night. I remember that it was incredible because I woke up grinning with this strange feeling in my heart and an irresistible desire to sing (sidenote: I did not actually sing because I can basically sing bass in the mornings... and I'm not joking...). Sadly, I only remember one thing from the dream, but the scene was beautiful, so let me try to paint it for you.

Imagine a backdrop of a cloudless orange and purple sky - you know, the beautiful ones that are right between a sunny summer afternoon and a gorgeous sunset, without the grungy half hour of dusk. And there's an inner city street, and there's people. The people that you would expect to see in an inner city - poor, various ethnicities, perhaps a little ragged around the edges. And there was an open fire hydrant that was spraying up in the air and out onto the street, catching the colors in the sky and throwing them everywhere. And we were there. Yes, we. I know I was there, and all around me, I saw faces of my friends, so you might've been there too, so let's just say that you were.

And in the middle of the street, all of us - poor, rich; old, young; white, black; conservative, liberal; ALL OF US - danced in the water.
And sang.
And laughed.
And praised.
And hugged.

There was LOVE.

I can't pretend to have the words to define what love is, but it seems like lately, I've been wanting to see more of it. Actual love, not the water-down version of it that the world tries to throw a pretty bow on and mass market. Love that realizes that every person out there is a human being. Love that couldn't care less about color or appearances or politics or social differences. Love that hurts when it sees someone out there without food, or without a roof, or without a coat. Love that knows that there is more than enough for everyone if everyone only took what they need and didn't keep the rest for themselves. Love that doesn't have ulterior motives. Love that loves others and not itself.

You see, the movement that Jesus started wasn't about rules, or about policies, or about traditions. It was about love. Jesus was about love. The kingdom of God is about love. And we can catch glimpses of it every day when we live every day with that love. That actual love. That love that heals and empowers and goes against everything but still makes a difference.

I want that. I want to see more of it. I want to taste it every day of my life, because I know without a doubt that love will win and has won, and I want to live in that victory. The world that I see and that I live in is starved for real love. It's hurt, it's aching, it's bleeding. Love can fix that. It already is."