The Practice of Love
practice makes perfect
or so I’ve heard it said.
and so it is true when
playing the piano
or baseball,
making pie crusts
or pottery,
and if at first you don’t succeed,
try, try again.
No one expects you to get it right the first time.
there is respect in the pursuit.
it requires discipline and commitment,
and can not trust in talent alone,
the quest to perfection.
why is it then, that we expect to get love right
the first time?
love requires practice too.
piano practice has scales
baseball, drills
pie crusts, repetition
pottery, patience.
Love practices in action.
it won’t be suppressed.
Love defies inaction.
for that is what makes it passionate.
Compulsion to act.
to speak.
to do something of value.
How does love act?
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
It is not jealous or envious.
It is not full of pride, or rudeness.
Love does not insist on having its own way.
Love isn’t easily provoked to anger.
It doesn’t hold grudges.
Love endures.
It lasts.
It won’t give up.
No greater love has any man than to lay down his life for his friends.
how can you die for someone,
if you are unwilling to live for them?
how can you live for them,
if you are unwilling to practice?
