The Power of Love

“Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.”     

                                                                                     Robert Fulghum, author.
  
I’m rarely at a loss for words as I post each week, but like you, I’ve lost a measure of joy and a good portion of my peace. There has already been much written and said about injustice, that is far better than anything I can add, but I am praying for this divided nation.

Mike Von


 I’m grieving for those who grieve and have lost too much. I ache for the Floyd and Arbery families. I add my prayers for the families who’ve lost loved ones serving in our police forces and for those maimed and killed while protecting their businesses. 

 And I pray for over 100,000 families who’ve lost loved ones to Covid. 

 These are hard times.



Even though I’m powerless to change what’s happening, I possess the power to change my heart. I also can help in a place that’s close to my heart—my kids and grandkids. They are watching my reactions to all of this.

Our families share a fragile world and it’s also a hard world. Things that are hard can easily break things that are fragile, so I’m holding my family closer now.

My toddler granddaughter belongs to Generation Alpha. She’s clueless to current events. Playtime is imaginative and active. 




But her older brother is a full-fledged member of Generation Z. Computers are a big part of his life—even now he’s doing online high school due to Covid closures. 

 He can Google anything. He knows about the senseless killings, the riots, looting, and is probably trying to process it like the rest of us. Yet, for all of America’s evolving technological capabilities, I’ve never been less certain how my grandkid’s future nation will evolve.

So, here is my pledge to America: I will do a better job loving my kids and grandkids, so they know the power of love. Not a regular love, but a life-changing love.

 The Apostle Paul explained it best: love is patient, kind, and it doesn’t envy. It isn’t boastful, proud, or rude. It isn’t selfish, and is never evil. Love will always be truthful, be hopeful, and will never fail (from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8). 

 They say the change America needs really begins at home—may we all learn to love better. 



Paul wouldn’t have told us about this powerful love if we weren’t capable of doing it. God loves us this way and he helps us love this way too.

 But it’s my choice to love. 

 Racism, political divisiveness, and hatred don’t mix with the kind of love Paul described. 

 Younger generations are watching how we respond to all that’s happening. I’m letting my family know I can do better. 

 And this means learning and listening to those who haven’t had the opportunities I’ve readily enjoyed. 

 I’ll also be trying to love like the Apostle Paul did, a radical love that breaks the bondage of all we’d like to see change.

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