the contemplative element of love

This quote goes out to anybody who gives of themself day in and day out. I think of Joanna, who, along with her husband, adopted premature special-care twins about the time our Zoralee was born. Within three weeks of bringing the girls home, they got pregnant (after 8 years of infertility - good times - and she is super sick all the time). I think of Darbi, who has given and given to her brother, with very few positive results. I think of all mothers.

"In the West we have a tendency to be profit-oriented, where everything is measured according to the results....In the East - especially in India - I find that people are more content to just be, to just sit around under a banyan tree for half a day chatting to each other. We Westerners would probably call that wasting time. But there is value to it. Being with someone, listening without a clock and without anticipation of results, teaches us about love. The success of love is in the loving - it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done. The more we can remove this priority for results the more we can learn about the contemplative element of love."
- Brother Geoff, as quoted by Mother Teresa in the book, "A Simple Path"

(bolded emphasis mine)