Cheryl Ries

You've all heard this little jingle, at least in America, that the fabric of our live is cotton.  Well, I say, the fabric of our lives is love.  It has been and always will be the binding tie which connects us all.  We are all united by humanity, which is a byproduct of love.  Love is the seed of all creation, whether or not your birth can be a recognizable as the personification of something loving or a result of something less noble, such as an act of lust between two strangers, or even scientific intervention through laboratory procedures, at the root of all love in this world is the Creator of this world, God, whom is the ultimate source of love.

How do we know love from any other feeling or mood, sense or notion we experience?  Love is transcendence, it is a desire to live more for another than for self, to give of self to the betterment of another's life, to improve the life of another human being by your compassion, care, and nurturing.  Love is the most selfish, yet riskiest proposition that is known to mankind.  Without love, no one could dwell peacefully anywhere . . within our familial homes, with our spouses, with our children, in our more modern lifestyles, with our neighbors, our friends, our communities, and with our God.  Without love, nothing good could prosper, we wouldn't desire anything good like nature's well-being, we wouldn't procreate nor would we want to see the longevity of those we love.  We would selfishly take life for ourselves, then we would be unable to share our time, our space, our innermost beings with anyone, much less those close to us.  Love, were it to wither away and die, would leave a bleak existence in its wake!

So how can love be revived, refreshed, perpetuated, and prolonged?  Love is the most beautiful sensory garden that we can create inside our beings.  When we love, we are most connected to another human being, to such an extent that we actually are at an elevated risk of being easily offended, hurt, harmed, and brokenhearted if things don't go our way.  Love isn't a guarantee, nor a sure-thing, but it's a promise nonetheless!  Believe and have faith, let your heart be open, and let yourself feel love when it comes to nest in your garden!  Be alive in those moments, don't shut down, nor let bitterness rob you of love's potential.  Love only stands a chance when it is given fertile ground to grow!  Love needs you to be a constant and present gardener, whom cares, gives, endures and hopes, faithfully and earnestly letting love flow into what you are nurturing!