a taste of love

When I lived and worked in Laos I was a part of leading retreats for young Lao women who had come out of the sex industry.  One day I was discussing with the retreat committee what our theme of the upcoming retreat should be...I said how about "Love".  I had been thinking about how unloved these women whose bodies had been used for all but love must feel.  And to hear they were loved by God a few times was not enough.  Why not take some time to really share with them how loved they are, and to meditate on God's wide, deep and endless love?  Even I was aware of how I struggle to feel loved and I've been hearing this message of God's love since I was a little girl...  But when I proposed this as the theme of our next retreat one of the staff quickly responded "We've already told them they're loved by God several times.  They should know that already."  I immediately sensed that this young woman did not know how loved she was either...it was a head knowledge but not a deeply experienced reality.  Love is something we can never be told enough...and to be told really is nothing compared to actually experiencing love.  Take a look at the state of our world right now... so much fear, so much hatred, so much anger.  Where does it come from?  Does a world that feels loved act like this?  I think NOT!!!  So I'm not trying to pick on this young woman who said the topic of love was too simple, but actually when she said it I thought to myself...she needs to know how loved she is!!  It's not a rational statement spoken a few times..."God loves you." Period.  No.  That is not going to do it for me, or for you, or for anyone.  I need to taste and see love.  I need to feel love.  I need to dive into love.  I need to run away from it and find that it follows me and never gives up on me.  I need to feel loved when I'm definitely not lovable.  How else will I begin to grasp how loved I am?...