Law of love

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8-10

We have been at my mother's house now for more than two weeks and most of our days are spent navigating through my mother's world. She recently lost her car -it blew up in her driveway - and so for the time we a re here we are her wheels and her freedom. We have tried to take care of small repairs and other such things, so as to ease her burden a bit. And she likes to go to Sonic and the hairdresser, so those are two other important trips we take. I have spent some time weeding her garden and helping her replace some plants that have died. We got mulch and spread it around her big flower bed so things would stay a little better in this heat. This morning, she and I planted basil in the planter on her deck so that she has the herbs right at hand. Watching her, I can see and feel the love she has for the work of gardening. It is a delight, not a chore, a rejoicing which is new every morning. She can look out her window and delight in her plants and watch the birds in her large back yard. There is no law governing what she does just sheer and unadulterated love. At 87, she delights in the same small things of life she has all of her life.

Today, I want to do everything, not out of oblation nor necessity, but out of love. I want to find a way to do everything for the sheer joy of it, even if right now I cannot imagine how that will happen. Watching my mother, I am learning anew about motherhood. She delighted in a thousand small things we did and now she know how to delight in other small victories. And so like my mother, for God's sake, I want to live by the law of love - God's law of love which delights in every creature and every moment of our existence and is thrilled with each small victory and every little smile.