"A Heart Full of Love", a theme song and an excerpt from the musical, "Les Miserables".
MARIUS
A heart full of love
A heart full of song
I'm doing everything all wrong
Oh God, for shame
I do not even know your name
Dear Mad'moiselle
Won't you say?
Will you tell?
COSETTE
A heart full of love
No fear, no regret
MARIUS
My name is Marius Pontmercy
COSETTE
And mine's Cosette
MARIUS
Cosette, I don't know what to say
COSETTE
Then make no sound
MARIUS
I am lost
COSETTE
I am found!
PARIS, 1832
Cosette is consumed by thoughts of Marius, with whom she has fallen in love. Valjean realizes that his "daughter" is changing very quickly but refuses to tell her anything of her past. In spite of her own feelings for Marius, Eponine sadly brings him to Cosette and then prevents an attempt by her father's gang to rob Valjean's house. Valjean, convinced it was Javert who was lurking outside his house, tells Cosette they must prepare to flee the country. On the eve of the revolution the students and Javert see the situation from their different viewpoints; Cosette and Marius part in despair of ever meeting again; Eponine mourns the loss of Marius; and Valjean looks forward to the security of exile. The Thernardiers, meanwhile, dream of rich pickings underground from the chaos to come.
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 NJKV.
Why is love the greatest? Perhaps it is because it requires the engagement and thus the outpouring of every part of our being, every bit of our heart.
Love that is first conceived in our head or our heart, will in time be called up into the battlefield, to stand the trials of integrity, respect, honour, courage and sacrifice.
To love is to be alive because love has to come from the heart. The truest of love has undergone tests and trials, purified under fire. After the moulding, the love still remains, only stronger, surer and purer.
Hence the One who is Love, not only declares His love for us but also teaches us how to love one another and reveals to us what love truly is.
"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.
John 3:16 The Message. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. John 15:12 The Message.
"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." John 15:13 KNJV. Here Jesus was referring to his death by crucifixion on the cross.
Despite what we think we know, understand and have gone through in our experience in love, and I am not just referring to romantic love here. I would also like to cast the light of examination and reflection on love between husband and wife, parents and children, siblings, friends, teammates and even among fellow Christians. Are we loving as God has loved us? Are we loving with the kind of love that God pours out onto us? Are we loving in the way Jesus has exhorted us? Or are we as a church or as Christians more capable of being religiously compliant in adhering to a code of conduct than daring to allow ourselves to discover a new spectrum of emotions and acceptance of ourselves and others whose circumstances and persons are less than conventional? Does our love restore another person?
Guilty as Charged,
Sv ",+
1 comment:
How true it is, Sv. I struggle with loving a brother-in-Christ at the workplace who has been a challenge to love. He's quick to speak, to get angry and slow to listen, the exact opposite of what we have been taught to emulate. Oftentimes, I have been tempted to throw in the towel and hand in my resignation.
Lately, my health has taken a toll, both from working long hours as well as being driven to a corner by this brother.
If I leave, I will have a new beginning, but I would be leaving a lot of things in limbo and that wouldn't be a good testimony; I'm not one to do things halfway. If I don't, I fear that I may become cold, superficial, or skeptical, as I have seen in some other colleagues.
What does turning the other cheek mean? Does it mean knowing that we are short-changed and still living with it again and again, until it's time to dust off our feet, pack up and go? When is the time to do that, anyway?
A brother once told me he would rather be cheated than not show compassion. I now understand what he meant. So perhaps, I have answered my own question. Our Lord Jesus forgave His accusers from the cross. Should we do anything less, if we claim to love Him?
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