it's simple

Sometimes a moment rears back and hits you square in the face. Every now and then each of us have those moments when we forget about everything else in our lives except what is playing out right in front of us. Thank God for those moments…..

I traveled to Washington D.C. yesterday and made a day out of touring the historic landmarks that line the National mall. I truly enjoyed taking in all of the pomp and circumstance that is our nation’s capitol. But just a block from the Washington Monument, on the corner of 14th Street and Independence Avenue, I came across a very different type of memorial. It didn’t venerate a former president or serve as the shelter for a historic document. Instead it displayed in vivid horror, the brutality, viciousness and cruelty that humans are capable of. This place was the Holocaust Memorial Museum.

I’ve had the opportunity to travel widely considering my stage in life. It is something I am extremely thankful for and never take for granted. I’ve seen some remarkable places and met some wonderful people during my short stay on this Earth, but I have also seen just how inhuman we humans can be. The height of human cruelty and the lengths that people can go to in order to oppress and torture others never ceases to astonish me. Hate fuels humans in a way that isn’t observed in other species. It corrupts and darkens the souls of some men, as if their shadows have retreated inside of them. The tears that I witnessed yesterday on the faces of tourists walking through the museum, and the ones still visible in photographs taken of victims 70 years ago are a testament to that. Places like the Holocaust Museum serve a purpose. A no-holds-barred, uncensored look at just what humans are capable of, serves as a reminder to future generations that unbridled intolerance leads to catastrophe. But what else can be done?

The answer is as simple as it is beautiful. Love. That’s it…..Just Love. Love without ceasing. Anything can be defeated by its opposite. Fire with Water, Darkness with Light, Hate with Love. Think of how much better this place could be if we just loved a little stronger every day. It is not enough to be compassionate for someone, you must act. It can start with our family and friends. It feels so good to love friends and family passionately…deeply…to love our friends and family as they truly are, the rough edges and the smooth. Likewise, loving the potentiality and the reality of each friend, standing by one another during life’s peaks and valleys and offering a shoulder to lean on when life’s load becomes a burden to carry.

I charge everyone who reads this with that small task. Just Love More. Start with your friends, your neighbors and just go from there. I truly believe that love is the discovery of ourselves in someone else and the delight that follows in the recognition. How delightful it would be to see love in us all.