Of Fresh-Cut Grass and Sassafras: What Love Is

By Bruce Almeida

The power of our free will and our power of choice will, ultimately, set the course of our lives.

If it is our mindset to choose the way of love as the direction for our lives, then there will be the need to yield to truth. Love cannot be without truth.

Truth cannot be without righteousness. In truth, there is freedom. In that freedom are reconciliation, peace, and joy. Love is the way, the truth, and the life of righteousness. We first need to understand love to adorn ourselves in its awesome power.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889432937

Book preview

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Of Fresh-Cut Grass and Sassafras

What Love Is

Bruce Almeida

ISBN 979-8-88943-292-0 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88943-293-7 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Bruce Almeida

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

In memory of my loving wife,

Deborah, Deb

Her love will never ebb and will continually flow.

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1

Of Fresh-Cut Grass and Sassafras

Chapter 2

Of Love, Truth, and Righteousness

Chapter 3

Of Love and Sacrifice

Chapter 4

Of Relationships

Chapter 5

Of Self

Chapter 6

Of What Love Is

Chapter 7

Of Love and the Church

Chapter 8

Of Growing Old and Understanding

Chapter 9

Of Our Time on This Earth

Chapter 10

Of Bringing Love into Your Life

Acknowledgments

About the Author

In memory of my loving wife,

Deborah, Deb

Her love will never ebb and will continually flow.

Foreword

When Bruce first approached me with his idea for this book, I could sense his passion for the material and the message immediately. What he put together is a labor of love meant to reach anyone willing to listen with an open heart.

He has put together a book that will touch the hearts of anyone who reads it. It is a guide for finding God, love, and peace in the ever-changing world. Of Fresh-Cut Grass and Sassafras is a real approach to hard and often misunderstood concepts of faith, love, and what it means to be a good person in the world today.

So many people are wandering about, drifting without purpose, and stuck in a loop of anger, confusion, and sadness. This book posits the question of what it all means and what you will do with your short time in this life. The answer is a healing guide toward a happier, more productive, positive, and fulfilled outlook.

I am forever grateful for the opportunity to work with Bruce and learn his unique message of hope and love.

Amber L. Cross

Preface

Love is not an emotion. It is something to be learned and pursued.

There is a cost to mastering love; perfect love is not without sacrifice.

Once we tap into its living source, we wield the most powerful force in the universe.

Chapter 1

Of Fresh-Cut Grass and Sassafras

My child, come sit, the voice comes from nowhere and infinitely all around at once. It holds a deep timber that reverberates though the bones as a young child looks up expectantly. The child feels both safe and curious without the hesitation he might feel with a stranger. Let me tell you the ways of love.

The child has of course prayed to understand love as he kneels, hands folded together, hoping to understand something that heard of but cannot make clear. So he sits eagerly, looking up expectantly, wondering who this man might be and what he knows of love.

Ahh! The smell of fresh-cut grass or the sweet fragrance of a broken twig of sassafras invades my senses of good times past, of youth and vigor, and of lazy days of pleasure. It stirs fond memories of joy and newness that bring comfort and fulfill a need, especially in hard times, the voice says.

The child smiles as comfort washes over him. Simply the memory of those scents brings images of laughter and long summer nights running through open fields, catching bugs to admire before they are set free to take flight upon the world. He understands the feeling the man describes without any words or explanation. It feels like the simplest thing in the world. Yet the child tilts his head quizzically, unable to piece together what that has to do with love.

But what does that have to do with love? the child asks feeling as if he is missing something that should be obvious.

The man's grin spreads wide across his face. He enjoys the innocence and boldness of the child. Let me ask you a question, my child. What came to your mind when I mentioned fresh-cut grass and sassafras? the man asks, leaning in close to linger on the child's answer.

I imagined a warm summer night when there is nothing to do but explore and climb trees, the boy says wistfully.

Well, that is love—warm memories, goodness, and joy so pure that it envelopes you in its embrace and removes doubts, fears, worries, or sadness. When you recall a good time past, there is an innocence that brushes the memory with purity and light. But more than that, it is the sweetness of the sassafras that we crave.

The boy squints his eyes and tilts his head really considering what the man has said. He likes the idea. Silence stretches between him and the man, bringing the child back to the present.

Why is love so confusing? the child asks.

A smile spreads across the man's face, bringing with it the warmth of the brightest sun. He enjoys the child's natural wonder, his unbridled openness. "You are young, my child. You have certainly heard talk of love from those around you, from those who think they know, and yet men spend their whole lives searching for love, desperate to understand it. If you listen to them, tell it, each man might