All Ya Need is Love... Really?

(Pictures of my 5 year old niece and religion philosopher, Whitney.)

As I read today's entry (April 16, my birthday) from the many-decades old devotional, God Calling (written by two anonymous authors) that began: " Love, love, love. Tender love is the secret..."

...I thought of the little crayon scribbled paper, a gift from my little niece Whitney that she gave me one day on a visit here, without words or fanfare. Just walked into my office, handed the paper scrap to me as if it were a delivery and bounced out the door. It said, "Gob is love. Love is Gob. It's all love, love, love"

I just noticed that the scripture that went with the "God Calling" devotional is from 1 John 4:16. Hmmm... 4:16... Today is 4/16.... I'm detecting a repetitive message here. I've always had an unprovable and totally subjective theory that when things happen in "threes" -- it maybe more than coincidence. It's probably God on his megaphone from heaven: "Pay ATTENTION."

The verse says: "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (1 John 4:16)"

I'm a deep thinker. Complicated thoughts about the meaning of life, of God, of my purpose are always running through my brain.. which is why I make up my laptop in my bed and don't know it, why I always have to call my cell phone to find it, why I have no clue what day it is most of the time. My prefrontal cortex is way to busy figuring out the Secret to Life to bother with mundane things like what day it is or where I last placed my purse.Now I am wondering, could The Secret to Life really be this simple?

On this, my 50th birthday, I'm sensing that the secret to growing older well, will mean becoming a lot more childlike. To "enter his Kingdom as a child" -- to, like my little neice, simply "know and rely on the love God has for us." To live, dwell, abide -- settle down and make our home in that simple assured state of being loved by Someone greater than ourselves. And once God and His love have taken up residence in our hearts, love splashes over to others. It cannot do otherwise.

At this midpoint in my life (if I live to be 100), that's about as close to The Secret of a Meaningful, Joyful Life as I can come up with..."

Love, love, love. The secret is Tender Love." God Calling Devotional

"Love is Gob. Gob is love. It's all love, love, love." Whitney Age 5

"God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in Him." (Apostle John)

Simply.... profound.

Post-script: I took the facebook quiz: "What is your life's themesong?" No kidding. It came up "All You Need is Love."