God Squad: Readers share love quotes with Rabbi Gellman

My email bag is full of wonderful suggestions and comments about my love letter to my wife, Betty, on our 54th wedding anniversary. I am so glad to hear evidence that in a time of stress and chaos, loving couples still provide the greatest evidence that there remains a source of love that makes us feel safe and seen. Happy wedding anniversaries to all my dear readers who serve the Lord in joy and who serve each other in joy because in the end they are the very same thing.

From L: I read your column every week and have done so for many years. I always enjoy it and take away some wisdom from it. I have another quote for you and Betty from the founder of Hasidism in Judaism, Israel Baal Shem Tov: "From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls that are destined to be together find each other, their streams of light flow together, and a single brighter light goes forth from their united being." Wishing you and your wife many more happy years together! 

From S: First of all, blessed anniversary wishes to your Betty and you. I really appreciated the writers' quotes you included in your column. A.A. Milne's is my favorite: "If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." Another that speaks to my heart is that of Khalil Gibran: "No human relation gives one possession in another — every two souls are absolutely different. In friendship or in love, the two side by side raise hands together to find what one cannot reach alone." To me, this epitomizes what love is. I always gain so much from your writing. Thank you for sharing so much with us, your readers.

From T: This is one of my favorites, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning,

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day's

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

From M: After writing to you for the first time yesterday, I was moved by today's article to send you an expression of love that I have always appreciated. Especially, I found lines 2 to 4 and 13 to 14 as expressions of my love for my wife. Of course, Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 isn't bad either.

From J: Thank you for the Brian Andreas quote. My husband passed away in June of 2020. The quote says it like it was with us, "I carry you with me into the world, into the smell of rain & the words that dance between people & for me, it will always be this way, walking in the light, remembering being alive together."

From H: I go way back to reading your column when Father Tom was alive. Father Tom came to almost every Salute Your Staff Luncheon I ran for 20 years for the Long Island Arthritis Foundation. I had the pleasure of being present for many of the God Squad invocations. I just read your column of "LOVE' and I would like to add one more — John Lennon's "Grow Old With Me." I think you will enjoy it, sung by many. 

From P: I'm adding one my husband often says to me, "Closer to me than hands and feet, nearer to me than breathing!" Many thanks for reaching into your heart and soul basket of lovely quotes!

From V: These love quotes make me want to find more and more until I find the perfect quote to give my husband of 45 years. Thank you very much. 

MG responds: And then there are some of you who do not need quotes from other people. Their quotes are spoken from their hearts.

From J: Thank you for the beautiful love quotes. My husband and I have been married 37 years. I can't say one quote resonates more than another. Throughout the years of marriage you go through so much together and your love changes over the years. This year brought us a new journey and our love is stronger than ever. Happy anniversary to you and Betty, and enjoy a happy and healthy 2023.