When I was little, I asked my mother what love is.

“Love is something you give away. But unlike other things, the more you give the more you receive in return. If you give one, you get two. If you give two, you get four, and so on. But you shouldn’t give love just for the sake of getting more. You should love as God loves us.”

This statement has had a profound impact on me since I was that curious little girl of four.

Perhaps this is the reason I still cite Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree as one of my favorite books of all time.

A few years ago, I attended my cousin’s daughter’s 1-year birthday party and I decided to gift The Giving Tree, along with a couple of other Shel Silverstein books, as a present.

A younger cousin decided to flip through The Giving Tree when the celebrations began winding down. He had never read, or even heard of the book before, so I awaited his finishing the book with great anticipation.

“Wow, that was DEPRESSING!” he declared as he closed the book shut with a flourish.

“What are you talking about? It’s a great book that teaches the concept of unconditional love, either from parents or from God. It’s one of my favorites!” I countered.

“Yeah, I get that. But don’t you think it’s too dreary for little kids?”

“No…”

However, I did see his point. And I was reminded of this incident once again when I read this quote from Ryan Gosling on Best Week Ever regarding The Giving Tree:

That book is so f**ked up; that story’s the worst. I mean, at the end the tree is a stump and the old guy just sitting on him; he’s just used him to death, and you’re supposed to want to be the tree? F**k you. You be the tree. I don’t want to be the tree.

I was taken back, and shocked further to read that the author of the post, as well as the majority of commentered, agreed with Gosling that The Giving Tree is a depressing, “f**ked up” book.

What say you? Do you think that The Giving Tree is a depressing book?

I can definitely see how people would think so; we live in an imperfect, cynical world. As humans, we are incapable of perfect, unconditional love. Additionally, attempting to love someone with the type of love described in the book has the potential to have devastating effects — whether through heartbreak, unnecessary sacrifice, and/or devaluation of oneself.

But I still stand firm that we should strive for perfect love, as God loves us.

Just as my mother taught me 26 years ago.

And I plan on teaching my kids this important lesson too.

A Christian website I visit frequently recently opened a debate about the newly-signed health care reform bill.

I will not get into the specifics here, but one recurrent theme caught my eye: the number of Christians who are vehemently opposed to the bill on the basis that they will need to contribute more in taxes to support those who cannot afford quality health care on their own.

I was horrified.

Whatever happened to sacrificing for the needy? Selflessness? Love? Aren’t those some of the greatest expressions of Christianity?

Jesus tells us in the Bible that the greatest commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And the second? “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

And while I do not know all the specifics of the bill (nor am I a biblical scholar), my understanding is that there isn’t anything glaringly un-Christian about it, especially in regards to those two commandments.

On a more personal note, I think that the bill definitely has its faults, but it is a step in the right direction. And while I am not a great fan of socialism, I believe that government intervention is necessary in certain parts of our lives, because all human beings deserve — or at least deserve the chance at — a decent life. The status quo isn’t worth protecting if it only benefits the most wealthy and powerful members of a group.

* * *

One of the many cases that are brought forth by opposers of the bill cites other countries as examples. They say that citizens of countries with universal health care must pay more in taxes (my household pays 35% — do you pay more?). They state that the doctors and the quality of health care in these countries are sub-par to that of the United States, that the wait for necessary procedures and tests is disturbingly long.

Now, I’m not too sure about other countries, but I do know that S. Korea has universal health care and my relatives who live there were appalled when I informed them how much we pay in taxes, or how much we pay for insurance.

In addition, health care in Korea is so much more accessible and cheaper than that of the U.S. that my parents — who are U.S. citizens and have health insurance — choose to have procedures done while visiting Korea because the costs are less than what they would pay in the U.S. with insurance.

So I’ve decided to pose a question to all my international readers: what do you think about the health care in your country? Do you agree with the above statements?

This morning, as I checked my Google Reader in usual fashion, I happened upon an update from Molly Piper.

And I couldn’t. Stop. Crying.

Some background…

If you are a Protestant Christian living in America, there is a very good chance that you are familiar with John Piper. One of the most respected preachers and authors of our generation, there is not one church I’ve attended that holds his ministry and servanthood in high regard. I often check his website, Desiring God, for inspiration as well as answers when struggling with my faith.

Molly Piper is John Piper’s daughter-in-law; more specifically, she is the wife of his son Abraham.

I first discovered Molly’s blog after suffering my own miscarriage. A miscarriage and infant loss support group for Christians had linked to her blog for inspiration. Molly had delivered a stillborn baby girl, Felicity, on September 22, 2007 — just three days before her due date.

I, and thousands of mothers who have experienced a loss, took much solace in Molly’s words. It’s easy to find tons of spiritual help on the web for those who are grieving the loss of their children, but I’ve found that the online support is not as far-reaching for Christians.

I found what I needed in Molly’s blog, and cried thousands of tears as I read through her archives.

Since losing Felicity, Molly has given birth to a healthy boy — Morrow — but she admits that the void left by the loss of a baby will never be completely filled. However, she thought that having a daughter might “round out” the grieving. “Not finalize it, but complete it in a way, if that makes any sense.”

Back in January, Molly joyously announced another pregnancy.

And yesterday, she discovered she is having TWINS…and they’re both girls!

I couldn’t help but weep tears of joy at the news. I have never met Molly, and I’ve only left the occasional comment on her blog, so nothing could prepare me for the joy and excitement at her news.

If this is not an example of God working through grief to reveal love and triumph, I don’t know what is.

Congratulations to the Pipers, and praise God!

A New Zealand man was forced to make a terrible choice when his wife and son were trapped in a sinking car. He chose to save his wife, and their 13 year old son drowned.

Man had to choose: save wife or son

In the months prior to our wedding, J and I attended weekly pre-marital counseling sessions with our pastor. We actually covered this topic one week, and I was surprised to see that there is a Christian answer to this question.

Who would you choose if you were in this situation? What would you say the Christian answer is?

One of my new favorite spiritual blogs, Devotional Christian, is giving away 22 Christian books!

Go check out the promotion page for the full list of books.

To enter for a chance to win, write a blog post, tweet, or post a note to your church’s website about Devotional Christian. Then fill out this form, and that’s it! A winner will be chosen via random.org on November 8th.

Good luck to everyone who enters!