Dear Friends,
One evening, just before the great Broadway musical star Mary Martin was to go on stage in South Pacific, a note was handed to her. It was from Oscar Hammerstein, who at that moment was on his deathbed. The short note simply said –
‘Dear Mary, A bell is not a bell util you ring it. A song is not a song until you sing it, Love in your heart is not put there to stay. Love isn’t love till you give it away’.
After her performance that night many people rushed backstage, crying, ‘Mary, what happened to you out there tonight? We never saw anything like that performance before. Blinking back the tears Mary read them the note from Hammerstein. Then she said, ‘Tonight I gave my love away’.
Jesus says,“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”.
We live in a world that is full of wonders, modern technology, miraculous medicine, amazing scientific discoveries, fascinating literature, a remarkable natural environment. But instead of loving and caring for all these things, many people have a terrible tendency to take it all for granted. What is more, at this time in our history when we are struggling to recover from the pandemic and to come to terms with all the changes it brings with it, many people are feeling starved of love for all sorts of reasons. So, this seemed a good time to remind everyone that Jesus calls all of us to love one another as we know he loves us, and also, as Oscar Hammerstein says, ‘Love isn’t love till you give it away.
With love and blessings,
Marion
Categories: Minister's Blog