I think I can say what love is not.  Love is not pride, nor jealousy.  Love is not making due or settling, nor is it the other pendulum-swing of shaping to fit your needs.  Love is not manufactured, fabricated or produced.  Love is not at first sight – lust is.  Love is not blind – hatred is.  Love is not to be pondered or contemplated – it is a choice.  And if you’re lucky enough to be married to a person who has made the same choice as you then you’ve got a good shot at marriage.

But to know what love really is to fully understand God.  I’ve never met anyone who fully knows or understands God so by deduction I can reason that I’ll never fully understand what love is.  However, I am learning more about what God gave us because of His love – His son Jesus.  Can you imagine loving someone else enough to sacrifice your own son?  No way! If two people are stuck in a burning building – one of whom is my daughter – take it to the bank that I’m going in for her first.  If the entire world’s population is in that building; same answer. 

While Jesus was here, however, he dropped us a few hints as to what love is.  Pick up the New Testament and read for yourself – but the one that sticks is to love God above all things.  Is he nuts?  I’m supposed to love God more than my own wife?  Surely that can’t be the case.  Well, after 16 years I can honestly tell you that in fact, yes, that’s the case.  And here’s what happened when I did: confusion, followed by testing, chased by prayer, redoubled by more confusion and counter-punched with more testing.  Though this may not seem to be any fun (it’s not) I am starting to understand how we should rejoice in the test.  My rejoice comes through a stronger marriage, a better understanding of my wife, a better understanding of me, and the conclusion that placing God in between me and any hurdle is the only way to ensure clearance. 

So, is love enough? Yes, but not my love for my wife or my wife’s love for me.  Rather the love of God and the full willingness (choice) to accept it, embrace it, rely on it and love Him back.  I thought I couldn’t love another more than my wife, and I was certain I couldn’t love her more than I did.  I was wrong on both counts: I love her second and I love her exponentially more than before.

I’m not an expert, but rather someone who tries to observe and learn.  Did anyone in this gentleman’s family try to remind the grandmother that perhaps God’s answer rested in the skilled hands of her doctor?  Or that perhaps her prayer was being answered by the fact she was offered treatment?  What a travesty to see how this man reacts to “religion” because of his grandmothers illness and death.  All too often we pray for something we want… what a difference it makes when we pray for God to send us in the direction He wants us to take.

I’d like to think this gentleman would view religion or faith differently if his grandmother had prayed for God’s guidance, instead of praying for what she wanted.  Maybe it would not have made a difference in her life or death, but I’d like to think it would have made a big difference to the lives of her loved ones left behind.