Amor Vincit Omnia

The response to my last post was incredible, far beyond what I was expecting. I wrote it with the purpose of going into more detail on one of my tattoos that I am often asked about. It holds special meaning to me, and seeing as I am asked about it often (without the time to fully explain it) I thought it would be a good idea to unpack it. I did not expect it to quickly become my most viewed post on this blog, only being overshadowed by the incident that nearly claimed my life last year.

After the overwhelming response to my last post I thought it would be a good idea to unpack and explain another of my beloved tattoos. While I was deciding which tattoo to write about I stumbled across a pleasant piece of literature. I read and reread it a few times, each time feeling more and more drawn to it, as it spoke to the romantic within me. The title of the piece stood out to me the most, which confused me as I did not understand it. 'Amor Vincit Omnia'. In latin, it means 'love conquers all'. As it clicked in my mind I was dumbstruck, transfixed by three beautiful words, a phrase that means more to me than life. You may think it extreme for me to say that, that a phrase means more to me than life, but let me explain and hopefully you'll begin to understand.

This is a fallen world we live in, filled with pain and suffering. There is no escaping the imperfection of this world. When you look at your own life do you not see the scars from where the world has left you beaten and broken? We face the difficulty of life every day, and some days it completely overwhelms us. You don't need to put on a facade here, it's okay to admit to yourself that things aren't always okay. It is in these moments of brokenness that life itself can seem impossible, but these moments can change us forever. It was because of these moments that as a child I sought some way to combat them and handle life on better footing. What I discovered changed not only my life, but my heart and soul.

"Now these three things remain: faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love."

1 Corinthians 13:13

"God so loved the world that He gave up His son, so that all who trust in Him shall not be lost, but shall live life to its fullest."
John 3:16

"Love overcomes all."

Proverbs 10:12

I was overwhelmed by the teachings on this, how often it comes up and how strongly it is emphasised. When taking our society into consideration I thought it odd, if not contradictory. I have never been much of a conformer, seldom caring if I am different to others, and so I took it on as a challenge and a test. Could love truly overcome it all?

I'll be honest, it was much more difficult than I expected (and I didn't expect it to be easy at all). To let love rule your life, lead and guide you, requires more than any of us have within ourselves. I persisted, turning to God as I struggled with my failure and inadequacy. It took years before I started to see the results, before I started to see the fruits of my actions, of love. It was gradual at first, unnoticed, but as God's love grew within me it overcame everything in its way. As I fought the battles of my life with love I saw the effect it had. It was divine, undeniable. I started using love to fight battles of the heart and mind as well, and was astonished at the results. Things I had viewed as impossible to overcome, simple unpleasantries of life, crumbled before God's love within me.

"Love isn't something you find. Love is something that finds you."

Loretta Young

Then something incredible happened, something that dwarfed what I had previously experienced and understood of love. I experienced a true, complete love. Love that transcends understanding and breaks down boundaries. It would be like trying to explain the beauty of a sunset to a blind man, impossible to fully capture and yet so wonderful. Complete love outshines everything. I experienced what it is like to not only received incredible love, but to have it dwell within me and flow through me. I imagine it akin to trying to explain actual romantic love to an infatuated teen, simply beyond us.

And so into my broken and hurt life came this love. I did nothing to deserve it, but God blessed me immeasurably all the same. Just thinking about it makes my heart swell. As this holy, complete love began to spread through my heart and mind it simply washed away everything else. It came in and washed over all my pain and struggles as if they were nothing, as if they never even existed. Can you even begin to imagine that, a life without pain or suffering, simply love?

That is why love means more to me than life itself, for without love life is empty. There is a miracle that happened in my life a couple of months ago that I'd like to share with you, but I'd like to explain the full, incredible beauty of it, so I will do so in another post.

This incredible phrase, that 'love conquers all', embodies the very faith and hope of life itself. Found in a stunning latin phrase, 'amor vincit omnia', it is engraved on my heart and soul. It stands eternal and all-powerful. You do not even begin to understand life without this love. I am so grateful that it found and chose me, as imperfect and inadequate as I am.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Nothing can overcome this.

Jem.