Pen Strokes | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Pen Strokes | Previous Challenge Entry
By Laurie Bahlke
11/25/21
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My mother’s handwriting was beautiful. She had a particular way of writing the word love using both cursive and printed letters. She would start the pen stroke at the upper left, let the line dip and curve before the line bent to form a loop. The letter “L” would be complete when the line dipped down again falling a bit lower until it bent upward and back in, completing the final loop. The letters “O and “V” were both uppercase, printed. The final letter “E” was in cursive and resembled a backward number three with a loop in the middle defining the upper and lower portions of the letter. A total of four pen lifts were used and the pressure of the pen created lighter strokes for “L” and “E” but the pressure on “O” and “V” seemed heavier, darker. Every card my mother signed, every letter she wrote, every photo she captioned would have the word love written this way. It is so familiar to me that I would recognize this as my mother’s handwriting even if I were given hundreds of samples to look at.

I remember that after her death, I found a letter she had written to a close friend and in it, my mother had described how she and my father had separated at one time and later reunited. She wrote that they had learned, “To love all over again”. The word love stood out among the other words because it was written in her own unique style.
Love comes to us in many ways, showing up sometimes when least expected. Sometimes, love is unrequited. Sometimes the chance for love is gone. Sometimes love is powerful and generates unexpected gifts. Sometimes love shows itself in the tears that slip quietly away from our eyes when sadness sweeps over us. Sometimes, love forgives. Sometimes, love is romantic and sometimes it is platonic. Often though, love leaves a mark on us.
In some ways, love can be compared to my mother’s handwriting. Love can bend upwards in gratitude and thankfulness, and it can follow someone to the depths of their lowest points. Love can move and flow like pen strokes gliding across the paper, leaving behind something memorable and familiar. The mark of love is comforting because it can heal, it can rejoice, and as the Bible teaches us, love can conquer all. How much Jesus must have loved us, to have provided unexpected gifts and rich mercies as a result of His love. He was a stranger that became a beloved teacher, friend, and healer to thousands of people.

I wonder if the ink and pen strokes used by those who recorded the events of the Bible reflect their feelings and inner thoughts. Perhaps the joy they felt resulted in lighter lines while passages that captured denial, sadness, and the death of Jesus were bolder and the lines darker. All that was written, I believe was done in love; the love that Jesus radiated towards others moved them to record and capture Jesus’ teachings, experiences, and His life.
There is a passage in the Bible that reminds followers of Christ about what it is to love. Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth about the characteristics that are demonstrated when we have a deep affection for another person. I can picture the words patient, kind, trust, and hope, flowing from Paul’s hands and onto the paper. “Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 NIV) How powerful, how wonderful to know that love always wins.

There are hundreds of examples of love that I could share. I have been blessed with friends, family, and the kindness of strangers who have shown me what love is and how I can show love to others. As I reflect on this, I keep coming back to my Lord and Savior. He loved me enough to suffer and die on a cross for me. “JESUS OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS,” was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek at the top of the cross. I picture the man who inscribed those words using capital letters and bold, deep pressure. I wonder if he too had mocked Jesus, or if he believed in Jesus and carved those words with deep affection. I don’t know the answer to this. What I do know, however, is that the Bible is full of written words meant for a hurting world and that love, above all, is the greatest gift, no matter how it is written.

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