We Must Love Better: A Retrospective

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. 

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. 

~ Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

This reminds me of another quote, one attributed to St. John Paul II:

Darkness can only be scattered by light;

hatred can only be conquered by love.

Whether St. John Paul II was inspired by Dr. King, or the Holy Spirit breathed this truth into the souls of both men, I don't know. I do know that on this day to honor the legacy of Dr. King, it seems like we still have miles to go before we sleep.

We fight over whether there is enough love for everyone. If we love the babies, we don't love the women. If we hate the sin, we don't love the sinner. It seems to me a God who came to give us life in abundance also gives us love in abundance. Caritas in Veritate, love in truth. Love without truth isn't love. Truth without love, isn't truth.

Rather than bore you with recycled thoughts on how we might love more selflessly while living more boldly in the name of Christ, here are a few past posts that cover that ground from a few different angles.

Love Must Come First: This was written in the heat of the same-sex marriage debates and court cases in response to the unkindness that I saw consume so many people from both sides of the issue. It is a reminder that all issues have faces, lives, and souls attached to them. None in the real world exist in a vacuum of intellectual or theological debate. Read on for more.

See? Kinda kitschy! 

How Do You See the World? While leaning a bit on the kitschy side, this explores the struggle between rules and relationship when it comes to faith. It challenges us (me) to remember the root of our faith is relationship, and right relationship to one another because of our relationship to God. Read on unless you want me to write relationship one more time. Oops! I did it again.

How to Approach the Suffering:  Pope Francis is forever showing us by his witness and teaching us by his words that we must love better, that we have to remember that we are workers in a hospital. Regardless of how good a game face we put on, I believe each of us in our own way is suffering. If we take our call to discipleship seriously, we are all called on to suffer. The trouble is that sometimes we forget how to approach one another in our wounded states. How much damage we do if we treat people as though they are well when they are not. These are my notes on doing triage in this field hospital of life. Read on and tell me how you like these apples.


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