True Love in a Glance

There’s something about spending time with a couple who has been in love for a long time. In the community I’m a part of, I've been fortunate enough to have witnessed this many times.

Don’t misunderstand me. In 15 years of missions I have seen people I care about separate and divorce. Missionaries are not immune from the challenges of marriage. Nor do I think only Christians can have happy committed relationships.

But healthy relationships have been modeled for me over and over again. And seeing an older couple truly in love with each other is beautiful. It’s more than attractive, it’s seductive.

They make me want to love Nancy better. They make me lover her more.

It’s always fun to see a young couple in love. They laugh and giggle and kiss and paw at each other until your eyes roll. They’re cute and there’s a freshness about it that brings joy.

But watching an older couple is more powerful. A wife’s gaze can communicate with so much emotion and understanding. It comes from eyes that have seen the excitement of a wedding, the passion of a honeymoon and the miracle of birth.

They have witnessed arguments, anger and heartbreak and have chosen to love anyway. They are eyes that have wept for children in worry and in joy and weep still. They are eyes that have been steeled by a journey with her lover through a cauldron of fire and pain and they have seen the wonder of God.

And in her gaze you see, grace and understanding, amusement and knowing, gratitude and peace, hope and belief, longing and a love only eclipsed by The Divine. 

It is a gaze so captivating young lovers can only long for the day they can share it. He returns it to her with the same gentleness and affirmation and no words need to be spoken.

In a glance we glimpse the purity of God's love for all people. It is full of wonder and nothing on earth is more beautiful.