Love Will Keep Us Alive
Somehow it seems right to entitle this mornings words with the declaration that “love wins.” At the end of the shit-storm, a shining star remains in the dark night to guide us home. That star is the option of responding with love to circumstances such as they may be. Every man and woman’s story is unique. The outcome of myriad intersecting family and wider social histories comes down to a one-of-a-kind story. By telling a sliver, one discrete aspect of “the story” to another, in the telling, we undeservedly receive more understanding, deeper insight into why things are the way they are. Thus it becomes more likely that we will forgive ourselves, and forgive others for the things that we and others did. That is,– we may exercise the option of forgiveness if we chose to do so. Forgiveness is a fork in the road. We may find it just too difficult, we are not ready to forgive. Forgiveness entails pain, owning ones own part in some atrocity. And who is happy to feel more pain? Not I. Too often today is not “a good day” to forgive, because I actually enjoy my self-righteousness. I’m right because everybody’s wrong.
Thoughts come on a Sunday morning at Starbucks in the wake of a few minutes of story telling shared with my friend, Reno. Reno is off to Mass later this morning. He told me a two part story of his family heritage. As a young man Reno was interested in religion, in the face of his fathers virulent repudiation of all religions, and the Catholic church in particular. Reno recalled the texture of the relationship with his father, as beginning with something experienced by his grandfather. His grandfather was seriously wounded in WWI. He requested the presence of a priest. His request was unfulfilled resulting in rage and antipathy toward the Catholic church that was handed down for two generations.
Reno told the story of lives lived in Italy, lived in the last century. My understanding grew of the man Reno now is, and of the person that I have become. Elements of Reno’s story are common to my own story.
Often love is the telling of and the listening to a story. Words make real what we have experienced directly or indirectly through others. Greater awareness and the deeper understanding that results, — does not fix things. It is a great boon though, to have permission to continue the journey with the one life that we have.
2 thoughts on “Love Will Keep Us Alive”
The hard part is being loving towards one(s) who hurt you AND are not remorseful for their deeds.
Forgiveness/love has nothing to do with feeling positive. Your matter of fact description of the attitude of the perpetrators is quite common. Nevertheless forgiveness, –letting it go, is the only way to move forward and not suffer the fate of becoming a perpetrator oneself. Harboring a revenge fantasy is a mirror image of those who committed the initial atrocity. Do we really want to keep the fire burning?