Love is a battered work coat

A meditation on 1 Corinthians 13:4 ~ “Love is patient”

Love is a battered work coat.

It is long-suffering, built to last.

It carries the marks of its patient protection – 
oil spots, wood chips, paint blobs, 
ground-in dirt, a small tear,
the smell of manure and chainsaw exhaust,
edges frayed from many days’ friction.

These stains are the beauty marks of love,
Love in action for the other,
Loved exposed to the elements,
Love for all seasons. 

Love is not a gossamer dress,
put on for special occasions 
or when the mood strikes.
Love is a strike-anywhere match. 

Love shoulders the burden of for better or worse,
in marriages, in families, in communities.

Love has no shape until it is put on,
and takes the form of those it embraces.

Its primary virtue is its ruggedness,
a dogged determination to weather the weather,
and find warmth within,
together. 

~ Lindsey Gallant

S. D. G.