Love Is All You Need

When my youngest brother Richard was 5 years old, he came home from kindergarten one day with something that he found on the street.

It was a tumbleweed.

My mother asked him why she brought that "nasty thing" home, and he said, "cause it's beautiful."

He loved that thing.  And even though he had to keep it outside, it sat outside in our front yard for a couple of weeks, until a wind blew it away, I think.

Beauty was in the eye of its beholder, my brother.

I received a picture today of a Christmas tree that was sitting in the middle of an Arizona hotel lobby.  What's unique about this tree is that it's comprised entirely of...you guessed it...tumbleweeds.

It's a great illustration of how anything (or anyone) can be beautiful and can serve a purpose with the application of loving attention.

It's difficult for many of us to look at a tumbleweed (or a person) and see what their potential is, because we're focused on that "nasty thing" in front of us.  What's even more difficult is making that effort to help transform it (or them) into the true potential within.

Love is not merely something we feel.  The feeling subsides.  True love is exhibited in the effort we produce, just as the love put into this tumbleweed was made for us to see.

We see this love manifested in people who were loved by their families as they were growing up.

We see this love manifested in people who were loved by others, when they had no family to love them.

We see this love manifested in people who were loved by no one, but somehow knew that God loves them.

Love is a powerful motivator.  When you start to take the time to do something because you love them, life starts becoming less burdensome.

Now that I wrote about it, I'm going to "turn my tumbleweed into a Christmas tree."  I'm going to go clean the kitchen before my wife gets home...

Go out and love someone today!

John