“In this world where everything will not turn out okay, where the anything that is possible is not in our hands, the real deal is to, nonetheless, look deep into who we really are, and then from that place, reach out a hand, to act, to live a life of care.” ~ James Ford

Wow. I read those words and flinched. Because I have known since I was a child that love is NOT enough. I have known love to wound grievously. To hurl words like sharp stones. And even at its better moments, love does not save from tragedy.

I’m sure that the victims of the Navy Yard mass shooting were loved. But my love does not armour my beloved, as I have found in my life. Not my sons, not my husband, not my parents (and I count my in-laws). Love will not protect against life’s darkest turns.

But as James Ford notes, what love will and can do is still amazing: it can comfort. It can help heal. It can listen and be there. In other words? We can’t trust to love. But we can offer it up, always, when things go wrong. And that’s hard enough.

Because sometimes love requires us to be there for the giver of pain. To offer that lost traveler a hand. I can’t think of anything more difficult than being open to the pain some people give me, via my loved ones. But I’m pretty sure the helping hand isn’t confined to just the people I love. Sigh…