What does that mean? To state it simply, it’s the willingness to love and care for someone or some being, knowing that there is cost involved – a cost that is often great - and doing it anyhow.
There can be a lot of hurt in love, and there is always risk, and one can't help wondering sometimes if there couldn't be a better way to live. ~Merle Shain
An open heart loves fiercely, but in turn invites pain. An open heart fights for survival, but yet surrenders with or without a fight, when death wins. There’s a pure unconditional element to open-heartedness, even as we struggle to control the outcomes in our lives - we don’t, and we can’t. So the cost of an open heart is inevitably a broken heart.
Why is this Easter Sunday topic on the cost of an open heart? It’s quite practical really. You see, tomorrow we bid farewell to one of our beloved children, a precious little girl named Thunder. My husband brought Thunder home on Valentine’s Day in 1995, and she’s been a loyal family member for over 17 years. We love her immensely and openly, and with this same intensity we will grieve.
But Thunder is ready to move on to the next world, wherever the rainbow bridge or the blue skies take her. She’s done here, and we can’t change that. So our calling – as stewards of God’s unconditional love – is to love again, just as fiercely as before and then some. Someone or some being needs that love and the price is irrelevant.
If you’ve put it all on the line for love, you’ve no-doubt suffered the aches and pains of a broken heart. Don’t be afraid to love that away again. It’s more than just an honor – it makes life grand. For a pet (or anyone) in need, an open heart means a chance at a new life – a rebirth. Sometimes the rescuer becomes the one who is rescued.
Tell us about your great love(s), a pet you rescued, or a loss you experienced.
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