Love Going
Out
“If I
have refused to risk, I have in the self-same decision refused to
love. And, if indeed I have refused to love, tragically, I have
refused to live. And when I realize that, that in and of itself is an
unacceptable risk.”
Craig D.
Lounsbrough
Every now and then, I
remember Mary Oliver's prose poem about love—that a life without it
is not worth a bent penny. I watched the news clips last night of people in
Houston, slogging through chest-deep water, pulling anything that
will float with pitiful, drenched people, dogs and cats piled on top.
Thousands of Guardsmen pulling people out of third story windows, and
hauling wheelchair-bound Grandmas and Grandpas out of nursing homes.
Shelters with neat rows of cots and blankets, and an orderly
procession of dry clothes, food and water for folks who just left
everything they owned submerged in muddy bayou water. This is what
love looks like.
Love is so badly misunderstood in our culture—as consumers, we've bought into the Hallmark concept
of love—all valentines and cute puppies. Love is not like that at
all—love is being there for someone else even when you're tired and
don't want to be there. Love means walking through the rough doorways
of life, holding someone up and encouraging them to keep going. It means taking the
risk of getting your heart broken, or not being perfectly
appreciated, but doing the right thing anyway. Love-going-out is what
it's all about—not so much, love-coming-in. Love-going-out gives life its meaning. Love-coming-in is icing on the cake.
For the last four days,
and continuing into the next four, a lot of love is going out in
Houston, Texas. A lot of prayers are going up and a lot of help is
being offered. Let's keep the love going—maybe the neo-Nazis and
the white-supremacists will learn what it looks like. Maybe they,
too, will realize that without love, their lives are not worth a bent
penny either. Who knows! Miracles happen when we risk opening our
hearts.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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