Basking in Love
Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:4 (NLT)
At one point or another in our lifetime, we have all looked for love (and probably in the wrong places). We want to belong and have that validation that we are special to someone. Trying all kinds of gimmicks doesn’t get the desired results so we move on and even give up. Then when we least expect it…wowzah! Lucy Chambers (All God’s Creatures) invites us to get out of our shell.
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I have a young friend who’s afraid she’ll never find love. She reads books, takes classes, consults with experts, and does everything imaginable to make herself attractive so that the love of her life will recognize her and she’ll find the connection she longs for.
Recently, one of her experts advised her to get a turtle. “Why a turtle?” I asked my friend.
“Turtles are supposed to be good teachers,” she explained. My friend brought home a handsome box turtle named Alden, a name she told me meant “wise old friend.”
Alden wasn’t as easy to care for as she had imagined. His habitat needs to be temperature and humidity controlled, he needed a burrow, and he needed a basking area with a heat lamp and ultraviolet light to provide vitamin D. Her refrigerator was filled with greens and berries that she shared with him, as well as boxes of worms and wet dog food that only Alden enjoyed.
Caring for a turtle had forced her to create a schedule that wasn’t just focused on what she thought she lacked but instead was centered on caring for Alden. He didn’t talk or wag his tail or cuddle with her like other pets might, but he was fascinating. He marched around her apartment exploring and hiding and even coming out to greet her when she called. She had found him a vet, and she had already started making new friends at the pet store where she got the worms. She hadn’t found love yet, but she was meeting new people and finding new meaning in caring for Alden.
Like my friend, I often try too hard when I am looking for validation. I get stacks of books and try to improve myself. But as her experience with Alden reminded me, the only way to find love is to get out of our shell and care for another creature.
Let your teacher be love itself. —Rumi