There are many days that I find it difficult to explain love.
Days when I have been betrayed by a friend who I thought had my back,
Days when I am so tired from being a Mum of two, that my legs drag and my heart aches,
Days when I am confused by words, trying to decipher between their lies and secrets held.
Love is not easy to explain, because I think culturally it has been expressed as a feeling, rather than an action.
We say it’s love; when we feel caught up in the emotion of infatuation…
We say it’s love; when we receive something of worth…
Love is in fact the way we act when we have nothing left to give but ourselves.
Love is the moment we say yes, when everything within us wants to say no.
Love is believing the best, love is accepting a difference of opinion, love is holding on when everything in your heart wants to let go.
Love is saying sorry when it hurts, love is finding a way to let go when you think about that situation over and over.
Love is not subjective, love does not have boundaries of race, gender, age or disability.
Love is way beyond an emotion.
Today is the one day that I find myself overwhelmed by love.
A day of reflection, a day of betrayal, a day of sacrifice.
One of the greatest scenes in the Easter story is the one where Jesus hangs between two thieves and he gasps ‘Not my will be done but yours.’
He didn’t want to walk the path towards death. He laid down his will, to prefer another.
Throughout the centuries, the cross has been used as a tool of judgement, a tool of shame, a symbol of exclusion, used to deny people access to the Father through works.
This goes against the very fibre of what the cross actually signifies.
No matter where you stand today surrounding and watching the Easter story unfold. Whether you think it is a fable, whether you feel excluded and stand in its shadow, whether you feel disappointed by its terrible historical implications, whether you are indifferent…
Today in my view the cross equals love.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
From one who was betrayed, to one who was crucified, to one who sacrificed his life to prefer another…
This is love.
