ExTrEmIsTs.4.[xLoV3x]

I was listening to Rob Morris, the president and founder of Love146 on a youtube video titled "love thoughts." I thought this was an interesting title for a video so as i sat there, watching him and listening to his words, the last few words really grabbed my attention and kind of slapped me a little bit. His last words on the videoblog were "can we be extremists for love?" at the time I wasn't even sure what that little blurb means but as i start to think about it more and more, i'm appalled that i even THOUGHT of it as a little blurb at all. Rather, it is an appropriate, urgent, and necessary action above all else. Used in any context, an extremist.. ok see dictionary.com tells me an extremist is someone who goes to the extremes. thank you. now check this out.. what does extreme mean? well we got a couple of definitions for you (we = me and dictionary.com) :

1. Of a character or kind farthest removed from the ordinary or average

2. Exceeding the bounds of moderation

3. Farthest, utmost, or very far in any direction

4. Going to the utmost or very great lengths in action, habit, opinion, etc.

How cool is that?? Think of that in terms of love, and think of love as an action. to Love so strong that is exceeds the bounds of moderation!! To Love so much that it is far removed from the ordinary character of a person. To love so deep that it is as far as the east is from the west! To love so much that you would give yourself for the person, the cause, the child, the one who needs it. OK, i know it seems a bit abstract but WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE if we redefined how important it is to love? WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE if we loved PeOpLe as much as we loved our money, our education, our family, our blackberries.. ? WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE if we became extremists for love, in love, and with love?

She Cries.

A life that started out so right, looked so real and looked so bright. She had everything she didn’t need, and everything she wanted was quickly obtained. Money was sometimes an issue but her heart knew that it was easily overcome. Friends have always been there for her to support her but for some reason always seemed to turn their backs on her. Maybe it was her fault. But she didn’t think so. She chose to believe that all people were going to ever do was let her down. So she found refuge in one person. And then chose to put all of herself in that one person. she was in love. Head over heels absolutely encapsulated with this other human being that just seemed to pay attention to her so much more than anybody else ever had.

Nope, that’s not the end of the story. Maybe that is just the beginning. In her head she started thinking maybe there was someone else, even better than the first. She was wrong, but it was all in her head. The one she was with was now gone and all she was left with were broken pieces of a once reconstructed heart, that never seemed to be completely glued together. Its like the pieces didn’t fit. It’s almost as if someone had taken pieces from another puzzle and mixed it with her own. It wasn’t all her heart. Who can fix her heart? Won’t somebody answer? I will, he said. And so she tried again. And again and again. And all the time she always thought there was someone better. But people were stupid, right? All they ever do is think about themselves. Or was that her? She hated herself now because maybe she realized it was her fault that life wasn’t going the way it was supposed to. Where is that real heart?

She has no blood anymore. What flows through her bloodstream is jealousy, violence, hatred, and hopelessness. There is no joy. But was there ever? Will she rediscover it? Or discover it to begin with? I can’t believe what I am hearing. I can’t believe what I am seeing. She seemed to have it together. She was so real, wasn’t she? She has told me she’s ok. She has told me that life is good, that it is better. She smiles and laughs and enjoys life. Finally. What is that? It doesn’t seem to match up..a mask. She is hurting more than ever but sometimes feels like she can’t share her entire life with us. She is too ashamed. She wants a remedy, she seeks it and tries it again. And again. She is trying all the wrong things. She is asking all the wrong questions. But maybe she is not asking questions at all. She was never really involved in the wrong crowd. Why did she have to make herself an outcast? Why does she not associate with people that might be able to help? She denies help and in doing that denies herself. She is wrapped up in everything and wrapped up with nothing.

She cannot see clearly. She refuses to put on her glasses. Why won’t she use them? What is she afraid of? What if the glasses break? What if they don’t fit? What will they solve? She can see fine, she comments. Ah what is she even looking through though? What are we saying? She pretends she can’t even find those glasses anymore. She is so far gone that I cannot bring her back. Neither can you. Neither can he. Does she know about redemption? She has to. She’s talked about it, she claims to have experienced it.

What about love? Does she know love? I feel as if she doesn’t. she can’t see that true love heals, and delivers, and empowers, and lives, and mends the broken pieces. Remember those broken pieces? Love will fix that. Doesn’t she know that love is the simple answer? Why does she ignore simplicity? does she fear the unknown? Why is she so drawn to some people? And so afraid of saying hello to others? She is miserable in and of herself. She has the saddest face I’ve ever seen and the lowliest manner. She wants to be left alone sometimes. Flooded with people the other times.

But still lives alone - emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

Hey slacker!

You are a slacker. How do I know this? Well I'm pretty sure if I asked you the question about where you wanted to be right now or what dreams and aspirations you had in store for yourself I would get an iffy answer like I don’t know or “when the time is right” or “oh it’l happen”. How many of you are going out there and pursuing what you claim to love and what you claim to want to be? If you want to be in healthcare, get the hell out of retail (yes that’s me). But if you want to be a journalist don’t do nursing. If you want to be a teacher don’t become a doctor. Be what you want to be and pursue it passionately. You are going to be 10x better as a teacher than a doctor if your heart is in teaching. You will not believe some of the lost dreams that I’ve heard. I have people who wanted to become engineers in mediocre jobs that far from satisfies them.

Are you a slacker?

What I am saying is that listen – take a look around at friends and family. We have them all for a reason. But in the end.. at the end of the day when the sun goes down, the moon is in full shining and the stars are aligning, what right do we have to not pursue what we love. Is it not our life? Ok, maybe it is our life FOR God, but is my life more mine or my parents? Or my churches? Or my friends? Its mine, is it not? Love what you do, no matter where you do it or how long it takes to get you there because in the end its all worth it. The final outcome completely cancels out the pain and sacrifices it took to get there.