What Makes “How-to-Love” the way?

“‘Cause I said so, now eat your vegetables!” There was a time in the history of our country that this remark would have been met with respect and obedience from a questioning, perhaps somewhat, wayward child. If I were America’s mother, this would be my attitude. It seems that some all-knowing-all-loving-supremely-sacrificing, old-school mom needs to yank this country (by the arm of course) into doing the right thing. Love is the way; and how-to-love is a better way. I’m going to keep bringing your attention to this matter–as would a nagging mother–until I get it undivided. I say repeatedly that to love is to radically accept someone. To do so means that we consider our need for grace and then give it to someone else. This is a skill that has to be taught, much like your mother forcing you to eat a vegetable that you don’t like “because it’s good for you.” Similarly, how-to-love is an acquired taste; once you learn to like it, it becomes your favorite thing on the menu, so much so that you serve it to your own children, making your family’s space/our country the place we wholly call home.

Share This!