Friedrich
Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 153
God created us out of his love. God loves us
unconditionally. God asks that we love Him and our neighbors. Eden was lost
over the desire to know the secrets of our creation through eating the fruit of
the tree. The knowledge of good and evil began there and the downward spiral of
mankind followed quickly. If we do a logical or philosophical evaluation for
determining our actions, no matter what our actions are, they are biased by
some outside force or faulty definition of good and evil. It is time that we go
back to what God has asked of us. What we do regardless of what it is, out of
love, the results transcend any definition of good or evil. This is not easy
most of the time because of the changing ethos of our cultures. Our example is
in Jesus, God the Son, who is like the sun in the sky. The sun, in the sky, no
matter what, shines its life giving rays without waver. The only time we do not benefit from the sun
or God’s love is when something comes between us and our source of life. We
should be reflecting the love of God to overcome the darkness in the world.
Child's Definition of LOVE.
A group of professional people posed this question to
a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they
got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you
think:
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8
“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is
different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy -
age 4
"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6
"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4
Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7
"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - age 8
"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen," Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate," Nikka - age 6
"There are two kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them." Jenny - age 8
"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - age 7
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6
"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore," Cindy - age 8
"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6
"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine -age 5
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4
"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." Karen - age 7
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." Mark - age 6
"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget," Jessica - age 8
Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."
"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6
"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4
Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7
"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - age 8
"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen," Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate," Nikka - age 6
"There are two kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them." Jenny - age 8
"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - age 7
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6
"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore," Cindy - age 8
"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6
"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine -age 5
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4
"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." Karen - age 7
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." Mark - age 6
"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget," Jessica - age 8
Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."
If you are having a hard time defining love, ask your
child or grandchild for a little help!
Up Date:
I have many memories of growing up in Northeast
Oklahoma. Moving to Tennessee has been much like those memories. The climate may not be as severe, but is very
similar. This past week has changed from beautifully moderate, to windy and
rainy, to bitter cold, to snow flurries, and is now a beautiful crisp 42. We
finished turning over the garden and hanging the new (made by Fred) garden
gates. As the house contracts with the cold and does its settling, we have done
a little caulking. Otherwise all is
good. We are still fighting that cold that we brought with us from Florida. We
have gone on a few adventures around the area, including the plant
nursery. The native landscaping can be
planted just about any time of the year and is best done in the winter when the
soil is softened by the rain.
So far retirement has been good to us. We are eating
healthier, doing a lot more physical work and deliberate exercise; therefore we
are steadily losing weight. Not eating out as much also has helped us feel
better. Not working has proven very relaxing. The weather has given us more
time for reading, studying, and watching some of those hundreds of DVD’s we
have collected over the years and never had time to watch.
Our only source
of stress is trying to figure out how to keep Glory (Jo’s 88 yr. old mother)
happy and healthy without letting her dementia and idiosyncrasies drive us
absolutely crazy. She does enjoy going to the senior center a couple days of
the week, where she can be with other people, play games, and be away from us…
I think we bother her as much as she bothers us. We have determined that ‘love’
thing is the only way to make it through, because with her dementia logical and
philosophy don’t apply. With God’s help we will all make it through this
season.
We keep you all in our thoughts and prayers. We miss
all our friends we left in Central Florida. We will be coming and going on a
regular basis. And, we are hoping that some of you will drop by and see us
here. God bless and keep you!!
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