Love is Sacrifice

My class has been studying Romeo and Juliet and I think of the the amount of sacrifice they are willing to make for each other. Without thinking about the double suicide, consider what Romeo and Juliet are willing to do. Names meant everything and both children were willing to leave their legacy and financial well-being as well as the lives they knew in order to be with each other.

Reading this play has made me consider the nature of love and what love is supposed to look like. Love is sacrifice. Love can only be measured in my willingness to put the one I love ahead of myself. If my wife Mandy and I seek our own interests exclusively, then our marriage will be tumultuous at best. We would continue to argue and look to prove our own points and get our way. Love says "I care more about you than I care about myself." The amazing aspect of love is this: when we love sacrificially, we are so much more satisfied than if we love only ourselves.

I also have considered love with my 7 month old son. Hearing your child cry can be a difficult experience, but Mandy and I have learned that letting him cry sometimes can be the best thing for him. Yes, it hurts, but if we want what's best, then we are willing to deal with a little pain on our part.

The ultimate example of this love is Jesus. Romans 5:8 says: "God shows his great love for us in this; while we where still sinners, Christ died for us." Christ shows us true love in that he was willing to sacrifice his life for our sin. We are the recipients of the greatest love of all time.

Our culture throws the word love around all of the time, yet I wonder how much we really understand the type of love God shows us and the type of love we should show each other.

Love is sacrifice. Until we understand this truth, we cannot truly love others or experience the love God has for us.

Thursday Blog: Cheesy Songs

I had a conversation the other night with several people about the best bands of all time. Naturally, style preferences come into play when discussing music, but I think music always makes for great conversation. Unfortunately, even some of the better bands over the years have fallen into the trap of the horribly cheesy song. There are a few requirements for the Horribly Cheesy Song: 1. It has to have been a popular song, 2. It has to be horribly cheesy. (Granted, cheesy is a very subjective term, but it still applies for most people). All bands have probably had cheesy songs at some point, but many may have not made the mainstream charts.

I am partial to U2 (as always) and my point behind them is that in almost 30 years, U2 has avoided the horribly cheesy song. They have varied in music choices, ranging from ballads to political music to techno, etc. Yet even when making a song for the Horribly Cheesy "Batman Forever," they still made a good song (Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me).

As for the example of the classic good band that fell into the Horribly Cheesy Song trap: Aerosmith. We all remember the "I don't want to Miss a Thing" for "Armageddon" in the 90's. I mentioned Aerosmith to a person in our discussion and she looked at me as if I just taken her money. Then, I immediatley sung the first few lines from the song and she had to admit that I had a point.

So, I will pose the question to you. What good bands do you know of that have fallen into the Trap of the Cheesy Song? Post comments and I will probably compile a list of the top winners. I also will appreciate comments on the cheesiest song ever.

Side Note: The discussion began with the proclamation (by me) that Patrick Swayze may be the cheesiest guy ever. Not only was he in Dirty Dancing, he sang the song from the movie: "She's Like the Wind." Obviously, no mention of Swayze needs to be made, as we all know how cheesy he is.

The Road to Blogging is Paved with Good Intentions

I created this blog with the intention of updating regularly. Needless to say, I have not kept this desire up as this post is the first in several weeks. I am trying to find a day, probably Thursday each week, when I blog whatever my thoughts are at the time. I plan on publishing short and long posts, so we will see what each week brings; so long as I am posting consistently.

As always, comments are strongly welcomed and appreciated. See you tomorrow.