Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Choose Love

choose love, always

This morning when I first woke up, neither of my children was awake yet, and so I tiptoed downstairs and made my coffee, then settled back into bed next to E, who had taken up her usual guest space in the big bed in the middle of the night. As I scrolled through Instagram, I saw mention of heartbreak over the morning's news, but no indication of what that news was. I opened up the BBC website and saw it. Brussels. Terror. My heart caught in my throat.

Because we are just lucky, is all, to be here and safe, my hand on my sleepy daughter's back as we prepare to live out another ordinary day. I know that. We reviewed our emergency plan tonight, partly to soothe my oldest, who saw the headlines on the newspapers and got worried, and partly because we do need to have a plan. Because it could be us someday. It probably won't be. I hope it's not. But we travel. We use trains and buses. We live with the risk that someone will decide to do something awful and that we will be the victims. And there is nothing we can do about that, except to keep living our lives with love.

The people who do this, they are not so different from you and me. We'd like to think they are. But they are human beings who wanted to belong, to have something bigger to live and die for. They haven't known the love and and belonging they long for, so they take this opportunity to belong, to feel like they matter. And they live and die for it and take others down with them.

So I say to you: choose love. This is how we make a difference. Choose love, choose inclusion, choose going out of your way to make someone feel that they matter, that they belong. Choose it in your own family and choose it in your community and choose it everywhere you go, every day of your life. Love one another truly and without reservation. Forgive without hesitation. Love and peace in our hearts means love and peace in our lives which means love and peace in our families, our communities, our countries, our world. Choose love. It is the greatest power we have.

4 comments:

  1. I shared this everywhere I could.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The last paragraph is powerful.

    "...choose love. This is how we make a difference."

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is very beautiful and so true. Choose love, always. It makes a difference.
    In times of immense violence, I am reminded of Parker Palmer's words: Violence is what happens when we don't know what else to do with our suffering.

    I choose love. Each day.

    'Peace in oneself. Peace in the world' Thich Nhat Hanh


    Thank you,

    K

    ReplyDelete

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