"I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s problems. I’m not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love; I’m talking about a strong, demanding love. For I have seen too much hate. ... I have decided to love.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
After choosing this quote, I happened to hear the Crosby, Stills, & Nash classic: Love the One You're With.
While the actual message of the whole song is not as pure and expansive as what my heart heard in the refrain, the refrain does offer something for us to
consider.
Let's first consider the King quote.
And let's face it:
Meeting hating with hate is futile.
Holding on to grudges is harmful to our health. Escalating dispute is detrimental to our safety.
But love? What might love lead to?
Imagine if we decided to "love the one
we're with," meaning every person we are with, moment by moment.
Imagine deciding to love the people in line with us at the grocery store, the passer-by on the street, the grumpy neighbor, the telemarketer...everyone we encounter.
Not love them in an "emotional bosh" way, but in the agape way we are all capable of.
It's the deep caring way we feel toward one another after a calamity, when our hearts are broken open.
Can we take a step closer to this love?
Let's imagine it. And then take a step.
Deciding to love,
Charlene
