Love is ...

Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng is a novel that is set against the backdrop of the Chinese cultural revolution. It tells the story of the struggles of a Chinese couple in their marriage, in their own culture, and also in the American culture. I enjoyed the novel. It is easy to read although at certain points, I got lost with some of the characters but it also wasn't hard to get back on track. I like stories that have some historical cultural background details and they make the story come to life!

There are two quotes from the book that made me pause, ponder, and appreciate. The first one is "To love someone is to figure out how to tell yourself their story." To be able to tell someone's story, one has to know their story well before one can "connect the dots" of their life and to tell their story well. It is really the biblical injunction that love is patient, love is kind, etc. in 1 Cor. 13. One can only develop patience, kindness, etc. by knowing the other person well so one may be able to understand what triggers the other person to act the way they do. Instead of reacting towards what the other says or does, one can go beyond their surface behaviors and continue to engage with them. And often times, that is still not enough but one needs the empowerment by the Holy Spirit to love as Christ does. 

I would even extend the quote to read "To love someone is to figure out how to tell them your story." Love rejoices in truth, even truth of exposing oneself to another. Often times, it is not easy to be vulnerable to expose oneself so the other person can truly know us and love us.

The second quote I like from the book is "Love is a wound that closes and opens, all our lives". Often times, it is easy to dwell more on the open wounds than closed (but not fully healed) wounds between two people. Unfortunately, these wounds will open and close all our lives. Love that endures these opening, closing, re-opening, and re-closing of these wounds and learn from them will surely strengthen the bond between two people. But this kind of love is hard to sustain. We will most likely fail at times and hurt the ones that we love most. This is why the Eucharist is such a powerful reminder that Christ has overcome all our shortcomings! Only He can redeem and perfect our love for others!