Letters From Grandpa #590

• LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
• 590

Dearest grandchild,

Todays letter will begin with the riddle “What is it?” *It is the most valued possession of both rich and poor. *The poor man can have it for nothing but the rich man cannot buy it for any amount of money. *It has no shape, color, or substance, yet it is easily recognized. *The more a person distributes it, the more they have. *It is all around us everywhere, yet many have suffered from the lack of it. *Some have frustrated their lives in search of it yet perished without it. *Others have willingly given their lives because they had it. *It is older than the world, yet it is ever new. *It never fails and will last throughout all eternity. What is it? It is love!

Please do not under estimate the awesome power of love! Napoleon Bonaparte, exiled to Saint Helena, contrasted the temporary nature of kingdoms built upon force, and the eternal nature of a kingdom built upon love - "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I, have founded empires upon force and they are gone! Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love and it yet remains. Even at this hour, millions would still die for him."

Some of you are already married. For others this joy is yet to come! I pray that whether you are married or not you will always be known by love! Granny and I were married on November 27, 1954. We were both very poor and in college. Granny came from a broken home. Her father had abandoned her and her seven siblings when she was only two. She needed love and I was excited to fill that need! When we married I was making only 80 cents an hour and as a full time student I could only work 25 hours a week. Love was about all we had, but it was enough! At the marriage altar we pledged our “love” until “death do us part”. We kept that promise! When Granny had a stroke January 16, 2017 I resigned from my work and became her care giver. She died in her sleep in her own home July 27, 2023. Our daughter Mary was with us at the time! During those last Mary was an invaluable help! Granny and I had been married 68 years. My love for her made it an honor to care for her when she was not able to care for herself! Our last days together were filled with joy!

God blessed our family with five children. Not one child came with an instruction manual, yet somehow love was enough! For “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) “Love never fails! I think it was Ignatius of Antioch who said: “With love there are no questions, and without it there are no answers.”

The beautiful relationship between Jesus and his Father was based upon “love” not “law”. Jesus said: “The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” (John 3:35) The Son, of course, reciprocated and also loved His Father: “The world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (John 14:31) In some beautiful way, love eliminates the need of regulations, rules, and laws.

Jewish tradition lists 613 commandments in the Torah. Love, however, transcends the need for law. Jesus summarized all of the law and the prophets in only two commandments. Both of them involve love (Matthew 22:37-40). Paul put it like this: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The

commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10)

The Scriptures are clear that our love originated with God: “We love him because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). In some mysterious way, as children of God, we inherit the nature of God! “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:7-12)

Jesus said about His Father: “I always do what pleases Him.” (John 8:29) How simple! How profound! My parents, H. B. Mouton and Zola Mouton, were married at Carthage, Missouri September 14, 1932. Many years later on February 12, 1988, my father suffered a paralytic stroke and was bedfast for over 8 years. Because my mother loved him, she chose to care for him at home, and pleasing him became the focus of her life. No stranger in a nursing home or hospital would ever love him like she did! Mother wisely hired young women college students to help care of my father. Providing these women room and board was part of their pay, and living in their home made it easier to be part of our family. A special lift enabled my mother to take dad out of his bed, and put him in a wheel chair. In his wheel chair he could visit every room in the house including the bathroom where he enjoyed a jacuzzi tub for cleanliness and therapy. Dad died at home in his wheel chair while eating lunch on December 5, 1995. In some mysterious way love “compels” us to please those whom we love! Paul said it like this: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

Remember! “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (John 15:12-13)

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce