Owen and Renee’s wedding
This is way more difficult in the time of corona. In fact, we are being told that the loving thing to do is to stay away from each other. The common thread that humanity shares right now is we are all in danger of becoming infected and infecting others. Preventing that is a new expression of love.
So, do we all just look inward and wrap up around ourselves, like a roly poly? Using the operating instructions above, I don’t think that’s going to work. Obviously, there are charitable things we can do for those less fortunate, things which don’t demand much human contact, and I hope we are all being attentive to that. But love demands interaction, and that’s where it gets trickier.
I love my brother and four sisters and am confident they love me. But we were raised to be independent, we have full and robust lives, and we are scattered across the globe. Consequently, we have gone six months, maybe even a year, with almost no contact with each other. Weddings and other family reunion-type events have been the highlight of our relationships. This from six people who grew up in the same house!
When the virus appeared and I realized I was going to be mostly stuck in my house with my wife (poor her!), I made a resolution to try to re-establish better contact with my siblings. I even set the goal of trying to stay in touch every week or so. This has worked out better than I could have expected, probably because they are also stuck at home with limited social interaction.
The results have been wonderful. The bond that we knew was there, but had seemingly become frayed or even invisible, has re-blossomed and flourished. I’ve learned more about my siblings’ lives (and shared more about mine) in the past four months than I have in the prior ten years. My sister in Spain has shown me how much wiser they’ve been about the virus than we have here. My sister in Bend is an encyclopedia of advice about getting a dog. My brother in New Orleans and I have shared stories from high school and college that we never even knew about each other. I have realized the bonds we shared are not damaged—they were just rusty.
That is just an example. Karen and I still zoom with our children and their spouses on Saturday nights. Karen zooms with her sisters every week, and boy, can they talk! I enjoy being in the next room. I even had a great talk with one of my nephews a few weeks ago.
I’ve been giving the impression all these talks are joy and laughter and fellowship—of course, that’s wrong. It’s the real world we’re dealing with out there, and times have never been tougher. But whatever the circumstances, we can offer our love and encouragement and support. And our ear. Sometimes that can be the deciding factor for someone’s day.
I frequently think that loving your neighbor is about being kind and doing good for strangers (and it certainly is). Remember that Jesus’s brother was one of His disciples. The key word is love. In this time of corona, the people I have the most frequent and safest contact with are members of my family….my most accessible neighbors. I’m going to take advantage of that.
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