Love is Not in the Eye of the Beholder

If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)

The last post of my previous blog was "Known by it's Fruits." In this I spoke many words of Soren Kierkegaard. In this post, I will like wise quotes him often. In a compilation of Kierkegaard's works, Works of Love, I found many ideas that are worth sharing and living as they follow that of God's word. In the chapter entited "Our Duty to Love Those We See," I found this thought and metaphor to be extremely helpful in relation to love and loving others. 

Or, suppose there were two artists, and the one said, "I have traveled much and seen much in the world, but I have sought in vain to find a man worth painting. I have found no face with such perfection of beauty that I could make up my mind to paint it. In every face I have seen one or another little fault. Therefore I seek in vain." Would this indicate that this artist was a great artist? On the other hand, the second one said, "Well, I do not pretend to be a real artist; neither have I traveled in foreign lands, but remaining in the little circle of men who are closest to me, I have not found a face so insignificant or so full of faults that I still could not discern in it a more beautiful side and discover something glorious. Therefore I am happy in the art I practice. It satisfies me without my making any claim to being an artist." would this not indicate that precisely this one was the artist, one who by bringing a certain something with him found then and there what the much-traveled artist did not find anywhere in the world, perhaps because he did not bring a certain something with him! Consequently the second of the two was the artist. Would it not be sad, too, if what is intended to beautify life could only be a curse upon it, so that art, instead of making life beautiful for us, only fastidiously discovers that not one of us is beautiful. Would it not be sadder still, and still more confusing, if love also should be only a curse because its demand could only make it evident that none of us is worth loving, instead of love's being recognized precisely by its loving enough to be able to find some lovableness in all of us, consequently loving enough to be able to love all of us. - Soren Kierkegaard (p. 156-7)

 This is an amazing depiction, in my opinion, of how love isn't about just finding someone that we love their imperfections, but also to love everyone despite their imperfects and faults. We all have faults; thus, we should all love each other based on the fact that we all want and desire love and if we should be loved we should first love others.

"When this is the duty [loving your neighbor], the task is not: to find -- the lovable object; but the task is: to find the object already given or chosen -- lovable, and to be able to continue finding him lovable, no matter how he becomes changed." - Soren Kierkegaard (p. 158)

If for one minute you say that you do not love those who know you, if you say that you do not love your neighbor but rather hate him, you cannot love God according to 1 John.