thoughts of love

"She learned to love him before he thought it was even possible, so he didn't have a chance to hide & mess it up & while it was a little scary at times, mainly he could not even imagine the world without her there." Brian Andreas, storypeople.com


Today has been lovely. I got to do anything I wanted to and nothing that I didn't. I got to read a couple different Baha'i books, ponder a few things I've been wanting to ponder.
I looked at pictures of a friend of friends wedding. It's really beautiful to see people you love so happy as on their wedding day. It's such an amazing day. As a child, you know that weddings are happy, but you don't really understand. It's only once you start seeing people you know (and around your age) making that promise to another person and to God that it truly starts to sink in. I like the Story Person quote above, it's sweet. The romantic in me says "Awww". The sentimental in me thinks "Aw, that reminds me of ________" (a few different people come to mind, though some of the situations make the quote backwards).
I was discussing love the other night with someone, and I truly enjoyed our conversation. Today I was thinking about God's love for us in creating us. I was reading Some Answered Questions about creation and the soul and such things, about the relationship between the creator and creation...
"Know that an educator without pupils cannot be imagined; a monarch without subjects could not exist; a master without scholars cannot be appointed; a creator without a creature is impossible; a provider without those provided for cannot be conceived..." (Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 180)
The last one especially struck me, because provider/providing is something on my mind a good bit. My dad is a provider, and a very good one at that. My mom loves providing for us. I love providing for my friends, and the Vafai boys. It made me think of the love that I have for those boys, even though I'm not technically related to them, I feel like I am. I have given them so much of myself, and they have given me sooooo much, that I can get a glimpse of what it means to love your child, your creation. God has given this gift of being able to have children, to see that little window into the love that He has for us and therefore created us, when we can feel the love for our children whenever we have them. It's been a gift to watch one of the Baha'is here and her daughter, their relationship.
These two Hidden Words came to mind:

O SON OF MAN!
Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty. (Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #3)

O SON OF MAN!
I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life. (Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #4)

God loved us and therefore created us in His image. He has given us divine qualities that we can develop, or not. And if we love Him, He will name our name. Isn't that an awesome thought? If I just love God, He will name my name. I'm not sure what that means, but it's got to be good. Fill my soul with the spirit of life, that would be amazing. Filled with life.

The greatest gift of man is universal love - that magnet which renders existence eternal. It attracts realities and diffuses life with infinite joy. If this love penetrate the heart of man, all the forces of the universe will be realized in him, for it is a divine power which transports him to a divine station and he will make no progress until he is illumined thereby. Strive to increase the love-power of reality, to make your hearts greater centers of attraction and to create new ideals and relationships.
First of all, be ready to sacrifice your lives for one another, to prefer the general well-being to your personal well-being. Create relationships that nothing can shake; form an assembly that nothing can break up; have a mind that never ceases acquiring riches that nothing can destroy. If love did not exist, what of reality would remain? (Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 111)

Create relationships that nothing can shake. I have some of those, and I'm constantly grateful that God has blessed me with them. Have a mind that never ceases acquiring riches that nothing can destroy. That's a constant goal of mine.
Maybe this should be my new morning quote. Something to remind myself of. Hmm...
Ok, I guess that's about it for the moment. Next on the to do list, figure out how to post pictures on here.