WRITEON FOR NOV. 9, 2022
Let’s see…You voted yesterday…you changed yer clock last Saturday night…and all’s well with the world? I hope so and at this writing the Astros are 3-2…to go all the way! Yes! Anyway, sorry Philly phans. I hope you didn’t read this column too closely last week…made mistakes about clocks and voting! So…here we are in a new and beautiful week.
Mother Teresa once said: “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put into doing it.” I have been thinking a lot about that lately. There are so many things wrong, that scare us, give us pause, or downright confuse us…how is one to know what to do? Well, I figure that if one does what is right in front of our faces first, we’d be on the right track. We hear folks talk about ‘doing the right thing’…others ask, ‘what is the right thing?’…
How do we come to know what loving is? Well, I found a couple of opinions. Here they are: “I know you can’t expect anything from anybody. If somebody loves you, it’s because they want to. And it’s never because it’s what they are supposed to do.” (Cynthia Rylant, US author). And “You don’t have to be perfect to be worth loving.” Thank God for that truth! Another American author, Walt Morey (of Gentle Ben) said, “Sometimes something does happen between people and animals. There seems to be a bond that overcomes all fear, prejudice, everything objectionable. I suppose you might call it perfect love.”
How do we learn to love, though, is a question often left hanging. Our religious traditions point to love as critical, both receiving and giving. Social society usually asks us to at least tolerate each other, though that is not yet love. Kindness features high on the learning- to -love-scale as does thoughtfulness and sharing hope. What has helped you to learn to love. What has taught you to receive love from others, from God?
Eve Merriam an American poet reminds us of this:
“When every story ends, when spring does not renew, when all the clocks have stopped, then I’ll stop loving you.”
BLESSINGS.
