The Beatles sang ‘All you need is love…’
West Side Story is about… racism, immigrants, xenophobia… anger, violence… the alienation of young people… and love.
Tony and Maria play out their wedding in the bridal shop where Maria works. Reciting the marriage vows they commit themselves to each other:
Make of our hands one hand
Make of our hearts one heart
Make of our vows one last vow
Only death will part us now
Make of our lives one life
Day after day one life
Now it begins, now we start
One hand, one heart
Even death won’t part us now
Love that has drawn them together, despite their differences, would eventually end in death…
I was chatting to Dave. His wife’s dementia is deteriorating. His daughter was caring for her that morning; usually he’s her full time carer. ‘She usually recognises me,’ he said with a sigh. ‘In sickness and in health…till death us do part’ is Dave’s daily reality.
This isn’t… the Tony/Maria love that shines through violence and prejudice… the rainbow love of a gay pride march… the passionate love of a demanding single parent at the school gates. This is the quiet uncelebrated love for one who has no voice.
Musing…
…Tony and Maria’s love… not acted out in the privacy of a dress shop… but publicly in the face of prejudice and hate… in a community that won’t accept it.
…Dave’s love… daily, costly commitment, unnoticed… it doesn’t always feel loving… intensely practical and enduring.
…Christians I’ve heard preaching about love, explaining the theory… Christians I’ve seen living unloving lives – unable to apply the theory.
…Times when I’ve got it badly wrong… times when I see glimpses of what love really looks like… Jesus ‘laying down his life for his friends’…
If I get that, then all I need is love.
malcolmsmusings.org 
To love like Jesus. Love expressed in so many different ways. My heart goes out to all who “love” without feeling love from those that should love. Your musings hit the heart always, Malcolm.
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There is so much said and written about love…. the feeling, the responsibility, the feeling, the joy, the sorrow… I need to come back to it regularly, avoid the know-it-all sermonising, and, as you say, look to Jesus as the motivation and the empowering strength to love as he loved – and loves.
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Amen, Malcolm. I revisit, reframe, recall, …I receive it in my morning devotions and throughout my day when I seek Him and share with others. Thank you for sharing his love!
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