Through The Eyes of Love (And, yes, that song is being played over and over in my head.....the phrase was unavoidable, I am so utterly sorry :)

I have a confession.

I have been sucked in.

I have spent hours.

Late at night, sitting by the dim light of the computer screen, pulled in to the lunacy on the suggestion of friends, friends who should know better, who should know my compulsive nature and that I would not be able to indulge in just one.

That's right.

I am an addict.

I am addicted to the Crawleys, Bates, Thomas, O'Brien, Edith, Daisy..............

I am addicted to Downton Abbey.

But I love how God can use anything and anyone to speak to us.  I think that we limit Him, sometimes, thinking He can only speak to us when we sit with our bibles, kneel in prayer, read a "Christian" book, listen to sermons, etc.  He is always there, always ready, always speaking.......even through "Downton Abbey"............just stay with me :)

I commented to a friend the other day that I don't know if it's to the credit or discredit of women that Mr. Bates - a heavy-jowled, tubby man with a receding hairline - is swoon worthy.  Who of you out there, my fellow Downton Abbey watchers - has not sighed AT LEAST ONCE in the presence of Mr. Bates?

I have.

And let me say for the record that swoon worthy men in films/tv/books simply remind me that I have my own swoon worthy man at home.  Never do I think oh I wish that could be my husband or oh to have a love like that...............NO.  I just get swept up in the romance of it and am in awe of the fact that this happens in my home all the time, just in different ways.  I love the man I am with and the romance that fills our every day.  Romance on the big screen/little screen/books is just a reminder to me that I am living out my own love story.

ANYWAY.........Bates.  Swoon worthy.

BUT WHY?

And then I remembered.

Our first look at Mr. Bates occurred with Anna in the same room.  Do you remember?

Do you remember the way she looked at him?

With a bit of interest.  A spark.

And then it grew.

And so our first sighting of Mr. Bates was influenced by what we saw on Anna's face and I, at least, began to view Mr. Bates through Anna's eyes.

And she looks at him in love.

Because we view Mr. Bates through the eyes of Anna - we see so much to love and to swoon over.

And when I think of great love, I think of God.

When I allow myself to be fully in His presence, I feel SO LOVED.  I feel His care, His mercy, His strength, His power, His LOVE so fully.  I know that He knows me fully and yet LOVES me fully.

And so what if we viewed the world through His eyes?

What if each person I encountered I looked at and saw HIM, His creation, His work, His love?

And what if people saw ME loving others in this way?

Would they, too, begin to view those people through my eyes, His eyes?

What if every encounter included a praise?

What if every encounter included a loving reminder of our Creator, our God who Loves?

What if we began to view the world through the eyes of Love?

And there is no need to throw out Truth with Love, Truth spoken in Love to those who we have earned the right to speak truth to can result in love and deeper understanding.  Love is not without reproof and Love without Truth is not Love at all but a pale representation.   But we must earn the right to speak such truth.  As Anna did :)  Her love for Mr. Bates didn't mean that she didn't speak truth once the right was earned.

So join me?

On this day of Love?

Let us look upon those around us - in our house, in our neighborhoods, in our churches, in our world - in LOVE so that through our eyes they may see a glimpse of the love that God feels for them.  If we are to be representatives of Christ then we must first LOVE.