The ‘I love you’

Last week had a couple of emotional stuffs that sort of shook my emotions. First, I attended a memorial. Friends of the deceased were very emotional over his death and eulogies were filled with ‘I love you, (person’s name)’.

Then, before I can barely get over it, while I was driving my home, I got another message that a bubbly girl I know had met with a horrific accident.

The very same time when I was looking at life and our mortality, I also get connected back to my past. The people who were once part of my life.

We got into conversations about life. And we had gone through something that reminded us that life is short. Whatever we want to say, say it now.

As I was working at the memorial (I was there only as a staff and not a friend of the deceased), there was a beautiful sunset. So I captured the photo, sent it to my friend. And told him that it is pointless to say I love you when the person is not around anymore.

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The above is my Standard 1 photo. It brought back a flood of memories and the next few days after that memorial and horrific accident, I had to go to a children’s camp.

Seeing my Standard 1 photo, and recalling how I was at 7 years old, I was filled with a lot of love for the children I met. Maybe it is because I know that amongst the sea of faces, there are probably some like me when I was 7 years old.

Fatherless, and from the typical Chinese family, I never heard of the words I love you. So, I was that bubbly teacher and I repeated told the children I love them and more important Jesus loves them.

Now, I am more generous with I love you. In church setting, yes, it is easy to say so. Outside of it, I counted myself blessed that I have friends that I can tell them I love them over something they do, or didn’t do.

If I should die tomorrow, I know who are the ones who love me. And if tomorrow never comes for them, they know I love them too.

Very often, we are so caught up in the lust-love type of love that we are so afraid of uttering them. Now I decided that I am not going to allow that to stop me from saying I love you It sometimes means Sayaaanggg…

There are many types of love and in Greek, there are 4 – agápe, éros, philía, and storgē . Agape is the love of God for His people. Eros is of course the lusty love. Philia is like love for friends. And the last one which I do not know how to pronounce is love parents have for children.

So yeah, life is short. Say it. Don’t hold it back. Because you do not want to say it at someone’s graveside, by the coffin, at memorials. It is pointless then.