Love

Last Sunday, Pastor Scott shared a quote from his mentor and brother-in-law, Dr. Jack Sharpe: "Love is my personal response to what I consider to be fundamentally precious." This was one of those insights that just smacked me right between the eyes.

I think a lot about what I love and why. Why do I love my wife? She frustrates the heck out of me sometimes! Why do I love Tahoe? It's a place. Why does it hold a place in my heart that other places don't? Why do I love music?

So, now I had a new lens to look at these questions. "Fundamentally precious" to me. Do I consider these things fundamentally precious? Fundamental refers to something as a foundation, a basis on which the greater structure rests. Precious refers to something highly valuable; something in which I place great value. Are these things of such value to me, they compose my foundations?

• My wife: absolutely. I promised myself to her before God. Maybe I didn't fully comprehend everything I was promising at the time, being young and stupid. But I do now. And I fully accept that commitment as the primary defining characteristic of my life.
• Tahoe: what is it about this place? It's the air, the sky, the mountains rising up out of the basin, the sunsets, of course that amazing blue water. The pines, the snow. So many of us who have lived there know it. Others may love other places. This is my place.
• Music: there's something there I don't fully understand yet. In the rhythms; in the relationship of intervals that make up melodies and harmonies; even in the frequencies of the sounds. Something there relates to my soul and I want to know it better.

I've always been a little sensitive about saying that I "love" this or that. Now, I have a clear context to assign this label. Thanks, Dr. Sharpe. Good one.