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When I was a child, Love meant Mother, Daddy, and Sharky. Sharky was a teddy bear I'd had since birth. My brother wasn't even considered, as we fought like cats and dogs. Later I learned this wasn't a rarity, but pretty much the "norm" amongst siblings.
When I was seventeen the meaning of LOVE changed for me. It now meant Ed Brice - Nothing else! No inclusions or add-ons, just Ed! Family, God and Country were not even in the running! And my brother, of course, was still not on the list; but this time it wasn't because we fought, it was because he was married, and I might add... to the sweetest sister-in-law I could ask for. She even laughed when I sent her a personal Sympathy Card with my love and Best Wishes on their Wedding Day.
A year or so later, however, when love turned cold and fizzled, fading into oblivion, Fickle-hearted me fell in love with the Corps. Marine Corps, that is. Patriotism and Love of Country came first, with love of fellow man, God and family falling in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place somewhere down the line.
To make a long story short, Love once again came calling, and I traded my uniform for a long white dress and a veil, and with a short "I do" entered into the state of matrimony that included a new state, a new town, a family of in-laws and eventually our own little family.
FAST FORWARD to the present; I find myself looking back at how fickle love can be. It can be wonderful, beautiful, fulfilling, joyful, and happy; but it can also be heartbreaking, cruel, hurtful, unfulfilling and complicated.
So complicated that I kept asking "What is love?" - and the only answer I ever got was - "Love IS what makes the world go 'round".
Believe it or not, but Factually, truthfully and realisticly that is true!
God juggles multiple planets in His fathomless universe of space, Right? He is the One who synchronizes their orbits around the sun with precision timing; so, when we say that Love Makes The World Go 'Round - what we really are saying is that God makes the world go 'round.
"God is Love, and so it is He, and He alone, that makes the world go 'round!" And God's love never changes. His love today is the same as it was yesterday, and the same as it will be tomorrow.
When it comes to the subject of love, my concept of love has been more like shifting sand than solid rock, more on the fickle side - constantly changing with time and circumstances.
Take for instance...
....Once upon a time I loved my Country and proudly wore the Marine Corps's Eagle, Globe and Anchor insignia in my lapel, and yet today I am ashamed of my country's aggressive invasion of a sovereign nation, our torture tactics of Iraqi POW's, and our continued occupation, and so I cringe, instead of getting goose bumps and chills, when I hear the National Anthem.
....The man I swore to love and honor until death do us part, I divorced; thus depriving the children we brought into this world of stability.
....I broke my mother's and father's heart with my wayward behavior, and probably sent them to an early grave because of my dysfunctional lifestyle.
... I hate to even think of all the times I turned my back on God, the One who loved me so much He sent His only begotten son down here to die for me.
Yes..."once I was blind, but now I see"...such Amazing Grace! Because of His everlasting and unchanging love, one day... I hope to kiss those nail scarred hands, look into His face and say, "I love you, too!"
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