Love

A few weeks ago, I pulled Victor Hugo's epic novel, Les Miserables, off the shelf at the library, and, on a whim, decided to check it out. I must admit that I have thought about tackling this in the past, but was always a little intimidated by the 1222 pages of tiny print. I have seen the musical twice, and LOVE it! The music is amazing - the story inspiring - the message timely, even today. I dove into the novel with a little trepidation - not knowing if I would love the book as much as I did the musical. The first 100 pages or so were rough - describing in intense detail the Bishop - a minor character in the musical, but whose character development in the novel is vital to the rest of the story. But, once I got through that, I was hooked. Granted, I am only on page 200 at present, but it is AMAZING!! You cannot read it without thinking about life and circumstance - poverty and suffering - justice and mercy - themes that are just as applicable today as they were when it was published back in 1862. I think it is one of those books that you have to read once in your life. I'm looking forward to finishing it.

But, along the way, I have come across a couple of particularly thought provoking quotes within its pages, including this one:

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves - say rather, loved in spite of ourselves."

That is beautifully said, if you ask me. I think everybody longs for love and acceptance in some form. It is easy to look around and see misery where love, or the knowledge of it, it missing. There is always a loving Heavenly Father, along with his son, Jesus Christ, whose love for each one of us is perfect and everlasting. It is comforting to know and truly understand that concept. But, I do not believe that it would be in their plan for any of us to go through life without other people to love us as they do. We are all imperfect beings, each with our own strengths and weaknesses. But, we need people to accept us and love us in spite of those weaknesses.

I loved President Monson's talk at the General Relief Society meeting on Saturday. He spoke of reserving judgement of people and simply loving them. This was a very good reminder to me, as I do struggle with this sometimes. It is easy to judge based on what you see or observe, but there is often so much more than what meets the eye. I can think of times in my life when I have been wrongfully judged, and I do not want to do the same to somebody else. So, I will continue to work on that. I believe that the Lord needs all of us. There is so much need around us all the time - so many opportunities to lift and strengthen. How many of those have been lost to me because of my judgement - or misjudgement - of people? Too many, I'm afraid.

Prophets through the ages have preached many different things. Each one has had a couple of major themes that have been repeated throughout their ministry. In the short time that President Monson has been the prophet, he seems to be telling us over and over again that we need to love and serve others. His own life has been one of constant service. I do not think it is a coincidence that he, who is a living example of love and service in action, is our prophet now - encouraging us to do the same. Perhaps that is what the Lord needs us to be doing now - to reach out, to love, to serve - to live lives of charity and goodness, reserving judgement for God alone. This can be difficult at times.

I think I have my work cut out for me. Time to get busy!