Thought of the Day January 16, 2020 The only thing that counts is love
A journalist hounded the French writer,
Albert Camus, asking him to explain his work in detail. The author of The
Plague refused: “I write, and others can make of it what they will.”
But the journalist refused to give in. One
afternoon, he managed to find him in a café in Paris. “Critics say you
never take on truly profound themes,” said the journalist. “I ask you now: if
you had to write a book about society, would you accept the challenge?”
"Of course," replied Camus.
"The book would be one hundred pages long. Ninety-nine would be blank,
since there is nothing to be said. At the bottom of the hundredth page, I’d
write: “man’s only duty is to love."
Love is very profound, because God is love. What is more profound than God? As profound as love is and as fundamental it is to man's existence, authentic love is elusive to human beings for the most part. The reason is that love is not self-centered but other-centered. Love occurs when one chooses to die to self and be totally for the other. All of us desire to be loved and we are in fact by God. But it is hard to receive this unconditional love because we grasp at it rather than allow it to envelope us. Love, as St. Therese of Avila has so profoundly taught, is responded to with love. Love can never be adequately be repaid or responded to.
At the end of life, the only thing that will matter is not our achievements but our love. As St. Paul admonishes, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do it out of love in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to the Father."
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