signs of love

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I have seen these signs all over town. They aren't on every street corner, and sometimes they are easy to miss, because they are usually up higher than our typical sight line. I am interested in street art in general, but these signs blow me away. I have done a little searching online to see if I could find any conversation about them, and I haven't found anything. If you know something about them let me know.

Maybe it is their simplicity that catches my imagination. They almost always change my mood. It is fascinating to me that seeing the word "LOVE" painted on a board in fun colors interrupts whatever I am thinking about, and makes me smile. At Liberty Station one night, John Price and Rob Reeder were pressing me to articulate what Between-the-Bayous is all about in a quick phrase. Eventually, we came to what may seem the obvious: it's about love. What we do is "share love." Behind all the stories stories we share is love. Creation is about love. Incarnation is about love. Healing, teaching, feeding: these are love-in-action. Jesus embodied the self-giving love of God, and we are called to learn that love as well. We share love.

When I see those signs, it is as if the heavens are parted and a dove is descending and God's voice is speaking from the clouds. Or, maybe it is more radical than that.

The language of most crowded streets is a language of competition. From the advertisements that line our streets to bumper stickers promoting candidates to the attitudes and driving habits of most drivers, we live and move and have our being in a big hot stew of competition. I'm not against competition, but it is only a small piece of our existence. My fear is that it has become our shared worldview. Compete, defeat, succeed, and in the process make sure others do not, and you  win.

And with a word, that is undone: LOVE. Love is about self-giving. Love is about honoring someone on her or his journey. Love is about encouraging another to make decisions that are best for that person. I am thankful for whomever put up those love signs. And that they are so simple. No context, no credit, open to interpretation. It's not promoting anything but the most transformational thing in the world. LOVE.

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