The Necklace

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  “SHE WAS one of those pretty, charming young ladies, born, as if through an error of destiny, into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no hopes, no means of becoming known, appreciated, loved, and married by a man either rich or distinguished; and she allowed herself to marry a petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education. . . .  She had neither frocks nor jewels, nothing. And she loved only those things. She felt that she was made for them. She had such a desire to please, to be sought after, to be clever, and courted.” —THE NECKLACE Guy de Maupassant    France, 1884 (pic by Grok) Read this short story here:  https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/the-necklace

There Is No Limit To Love

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 Whoever said, “love is a many splendored thing” summed it best (I think it was Shakespeare, but I could not find it). So much to be said about love that will not be rehearsed here, except to say that when you love someone who will not love you back is . . . I can’t find a word for it.

Those who truly love, that is, reciprocate love, don’t have to meet. Love is there by trust. But there are those who do not trust and so they do not love. Does that mean I must cease to love because someone will not love me in return? That would be selfish, and that would not be love. When love is withdrawn or love becomes duty, everything changes.


True lovers need not see each other every day.  They just love, knowing. No work involved. Love is not earned. It is given and received. “It does not seek its own.” Those who withdraw love have forgotten what it is. They say, in effect, “I cannot overlook your faults though I expect you to overlook mine.” Love does not rejoice in what is wrong, but neither does it brood over injury. 


If God had waited for the world to love Him, He never would have so loved the world. But He did love the world and the world did not receive Him, He did not withdraw His love. I don’t know about you, but I need to remember that.

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