How do I love thee.....

Sonnet 43 - How do I love thee? Let me count the ways by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday's

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.



I do not have the genius that is Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I have attempted poetry at times, but nothing that compares to the depth of Ms. Browning. I think she must have been a very passionate person to have written in such a way that her poetry is known to this day. Even if you don't know the poem in its entirety, most likely you have heard the words "how do I love thee, let me count the ways." The passage is a familiar one. When I read the poem I tend to think of it as an expression of her love for God. The sonnet is the most famous in a series of sonnets called "Sonnets from the Portuguese." Portuguese is a pet name given to her from Mr. Browning during their courtship since the sonnets followed the Portuguese style. But when I read this particular sonnet, I am struck by how it seems to be a sonnet written to God. I think it would make sense to say this even though the sonnet was written during the time of her courtship with Mr Browning. Elizabeth was a very educated woman for her time. She learned several languages and read the entire Old Testament in Hebrew. Elizabeth also had health issues and they were aggravated by a tragic boating accident that took the life of her brother. She was profoundly affected by this loss and was confined to her bedroom for five years. She continued to read and write prolifically, while continuing to produce her poetry. Mr. Browning, a famous poet in his own right, read some of Elizabeths' work and wrote to tell her how much he loved her writing. Their courtship began, but Elizabeth could scarcely believe that he loved her since she was so much older and in such poor health. So this famous sonnet seems to me to be an attempt to understand the depths of love and how it is attained.

The first passage sets the stage "How do I love thee, let me count the ways." Simple enough, she is stating the obvious. The next passage that says "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight for the ends of being and ideal grace" reminds me of the passages in scripture that commands us to "love the Lord with all our heart, with all our mind and with all our soul (and with all our strength in Mark and Luke. Reference Deut. 6.5, Matthew 22.37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27.) When we feel alone and "out of sight" or when we come to the end of ourselves, it is then that we see our need for Gods love. To understand Gods love is to understand unmerited favor (ie. grace) and the gift that he so freely offers every person through His son, Jesus. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8.)" Elizabeth is pointing out that true love is emptying ourselves and accepting perfect grace. "Ideal grace" can only be attributed to the grace given through Jesus. To accept this grace is to experience Gods love for us and then reflected through us onto others.

"I love thee to the level of everydays need, by sun or candlelight." The imagery of light is so relevant to the image of God. John 12:46 says " I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." Jesus came into the world to light the way to the father. He fills the darkness with light just as a candle illuminates a dark room. We can feel Gods love in that He knows us and loves us enough to care about our most basic everyday needs. Whether our needs are as obvious as the brightest of light like the sun or hidden needs only known by us and seen by God like the the candlelight in the darkness. He knows our every need (Matthew 6:25-34.) When we know that the Lord will supply our basic needs, we are able to love freely.

"I love thee freely, as men strive for right" No matter what is happening in the world whether its the economy, wars, violence, or persecution. Regardless of what our politicians are striving to do and their views of what is "right," love is freely given by God and we can feel confident in that despite what is happening in the world. Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38.)

"I love thee, purely as they turn from Praise." While men strive to do the "right" in their own eyes, they forget about the creator of "right." If we fail to praise the one that sets the standard we move further and further away from purity. To love with a pure heart means that we are close to the one that is purest of all. When we walk with the purest of love we are able to praise Him. If we don't, then we walk away from praise. Hebrews 13:15-17 states: "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. " Its interesting to me how Ms. Browning weaves together the notion that in order to love freely we must love others despite whether they deserve it or agree with our views. Our leaders and authorities are accountable ultimately to God. Yet, we are to continue in love and submission even if the leaders do not appear to give praise to God. Ultimately they will be judged for their decisions. Yet we can still love freely and with purity.

Okay, I'll take a breath here.

Now, "I love thee with the passions put to use in my old griefs, and with childhoods faith." I believe that this passage references how we can sometimes pursue worldly passions. Whether it is a person, a career, or the accumulation of things, we seek the things that ignite a passion in us. But sometimes our passions are misdirected. More often than not our passions can lead us to grief. We can be blinded by our our desires and make foolish decisions. But, if we direct our passion to the pursuit of Jesus, with the faith of a child, then we can truly experience fulfillment. Hebrews 11:6 states "without faith, it is impossible to please God." In Luke 18:17, our faith must be child-like "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all." To come to Jesus as a child means that we are fully trusting and without reservation. To release our passions to His care and trust that he will fill us up is a path to a kind of love that only He can give.

"I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints" seems to reference the loss of Elizebeths' beloved brother. My grandfather is the only person I have lost that was near to me. But I know that I will see him again someday since I know he was a Christian and loved Jesus. In scripture, believers are described as "saints." I think Elizabeth is saying that she can still love God despite the fact that He called one of his "saints" and one of her loved ones home. Even though I can' t say for sure that her brother was a believer, I can't help but think she is referencing people that she has lost. Finally, she says "I love you with the breath, smiles, tears and all my life! and, if God choose, shall love thee better after death." The conclusion is that through all of lifes' ups and downs and even to the very breath that we breathe, if we can appreciate Gods love for us in the everyday then perhaps in eternity we will truly experience and understand the depths of His love even more.

I suppose I may have over-analyzed the poem. But, given what I have read of Ms. Browning I can't help but to see the spiritual side in her work. I am sure that the poem at its basic level is reflecting the love she has for Mr. Browning. I am definetly not an expert in poetry, but this is what the poem says to me. I can only speculate on what Elizabeth Browning was thinking when she wrote the sonnet. She seemed to be a remarkable woman, deeply intellectual and equally spiritual. I don't think she could define the love she had for her Mr Browning without understanding the love she had for God. In order to love someone that deeply we can't ignore the creator and giver of love.

1 John 3:1-3
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

Here I Go...

Okay, now that I have officially set up a blog site my mind has gone completely blank. I have nothing remotely cleaver to say. So I will begin my blog by simply saying "hello." I decided to begin a blog for no other reason than to keep a record of my thoughts. I don't claim to be an expert in any particular area or topic. I often find that I get lost in long conversations with myself (not in a schizophrenic manner); rather, a streaming thought process that dances between the everyday list of "things to do" and conversations between a woman and her beloved creator. Some may call it prayer but I prefer conversations. I vacillate between the mundane to the profound. Of course, I have a tendency to talk when I need to listen (don't we all.) I would not classify my thoughts or conversations as brilliant or deeply philisophical. Sometimes I simply have ideas that need remembering. Other times I don't want to forget a thought process that seems to be embedded with messages from God floating in the waters of my consiousness like driftwood on a rushing river quickly disappearing out of sight. Thus, the blog. I want to remember and look back to see how far I have come. If you find this blog and you read something that touches you, let me know. I'm looking forward to discovering what God can do through this medium. I will say without apology that I believe that Jesus is the son of God. I believe in the triune God. I believe in Gods infallable, inherent Word (the Bible.) I believe that God came to this earth leaving the majesty of His throne to become a man. He was and is fully divine and fully man. He died on a sinners cross (though He was sinless) to pay the penalty for mans sin (aka my sin.) All he asks of us is that we accept that we are sinners and accept the gift of salvation through His sons death, burial and resurrection that paid the penalty for our sin. I will save the topics of justification and sanctification for another day. Now, having said all that, if you don't believe the way I do or you want to argue the finer points of your theology or lack thereof, please don't post any negative statements here and move on. If you have questions for me, I'll answer them to the best of my ability (with the power of His ability.) Okay, now that we have that settled I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you and receiving feedback in kind. God Bless.

Welcome

"Rhema (ρημα) Greek ; an utterance (indiv., collect. or spec.); by implication a matter or 'topic' (esp. of narration, command or dispute). From the primary verb Rheo (ρηω) to flow or run , as water; and the suffix ma(μα) , a finite dispensation or portion (eg. "charis", grace ; but "charisma", a portion of grace, (spiritual) gift" (Wikipedia.)