Love Has to Look Like Something

Thursday mornings at BJM, women gather for Art for the Heart. We explore feelings and life experiences. Talk about hard times and good memories. Each week we use some art form – writing, painting, drawing, collaging, or drama – to explore our hearts and minds.  Often, we ask Father God to teach us and increase our understanding.  The vision and goal of Art for the Heart is healing of broken hearts and changing of pain-filled lives.

Recently, Art for the Heart women thought, talked and then created art around the statement “Love has to look like something.”

What does love look like? How does love become real when we DO loving actions?  We heard a “today in San Francisco” version of the story of the good Samaritan. Women recalled past experiences where someone showed love to them. They told stories of times they made love real by doing loving things.

In the end, we each created a collage with images of “what love looks like to me.”

One of the Art for the Heart regulars, Dora,  had few loving encounters as a child. Life was marked with abuse, violence, sexual violation and abandonment. Dora ran away from this unhappy home and never returned.

Yet, Dora chose a picture of raisin toast from a magazine for the collage. “I remember eating raisin toast with butter,” Dora said with a smile.  “Warm and crunchy….When I was a kid I loved raisin toast!”

Clearly, even in that bleak childhood, love did look like something.

Tonight, Dora called me just to say good night. Perhaps, to hear someone say goodnight back. Perhaps to hear “Sleep well. See you tomorrow.”

Good news! Dora had a bed in the shelter next to Silvia, another BJM woman. Good to be next to a friend you can trust!

“Silvia. isn’t here yet,” Dora said. “She has a class tonight.  But I made up her bed. It’s all set…her pajamas are folded on her pillow and I made up her blanket so it’s smooth and pretty. She’ll be tired when she gets back from class. So she can just crawl right in!”

I could picture the tidy bed and neatly folded PJ’s. I could picture Dora’s face – smiling.

“This is like Art for the Heart, ” I said. “Just what we talked about…..that love has to look….”

“Love has to look like something,” Dora completed my sentence.

“Yep!” I agreed. “Love looks like something…and tonight it looks like you making Silvia’s bed!”