"Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." (I John 4:16)



I have seen love limping home

in the long shadows of a day 

gone by too hard and too slow

and barely any strength left to show.



I have seen love holding hard

to its chores in swollen knuckles

and aching fingers stiff and sore from their work 

yet with no thought of giving up.



I have seen love etched in eyes

keeping watch through long nights

so that others could sleep

and keep their promises on the morrow.



I have seen love lift the heavy weight of sorrow,

leaning in with tender hands

wrapped around shoulders heaving with grief,

or else gently cupped to tear-tracked faces.



I have seen love in rough hands

folded in prayer, giving thanks

and blessing simple food

earned in sweat and blood among the thorns.



I have seen love dancing in callused fingers

fretting steel strings on old guitars,

bowed against the face of a fiddle,

thumping joy note by note from an old string bass.



I have seen love glide like grace itself

in the sliding steps of a fine old waltz,

or else stomping out a jig or an old reel

on worn planks polished by the feel of leather soles.



I have seen love laughing loud

in young parents lifting proud a newborn baby,

or middle-aged lovers just met again,

or old friends who maybe can’t even remember when.



I have seen love a thousand ways

in a thousand places,

and yet every time I see it,

I still glimpse the face of God.