Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Education of Little Tree

I know we're discussing this book tomorrow evening in Book Club, but I just had to share my very favorite part... before I turn it back in to the library and forget it!

"Grandma's name was Bonnie Bee. I knew that when I heard him late at night say 'I kin ye, Bonnie Bee,' he was saying 'I love ye,' for the feeling was in the words.
And when they would be talking and Granma would say, 'Do ye kin me Wales?' and he would answer, 'I kin ye,' it meant, 'I understand ye.' To them, love and understanding was the same thing. Granma said you couldn't love something you didn't understand; nor could you love people, nor God, if you didn't understand the people and God.
Granpa and Granma had an understanding, and so they had a love.
....Granpa said back before his time 'kinfolks' meant any folks that you understood and had an understanding with, so it meant 'loved folks.' But people got selfish, and brought it down to mean just blood relatives; but that actually was never meant to mean that."

What a great way to look at love! It's so true that those we have the most understanding of are usually those we love the most. And when we serve someone we learn to understand them and as we understand them better we learn to love them also. It works the other way too- the more we share of ourselves so that others can understand us, the more love we end up receiving!

Thank you Leslie for recommending this book!! I found some other great nuggets in it, but just wanted to share this quick one!

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