Practical Love

Careful the things you say Children will listen Careful the things you do Children will see and learn Children may not obey, but children will listen Children will look to you for which way to turn To learn what to be Careful before you say "Listen to me" Children will listen Lyrics from "Children Will Listen" by Stephen Sondheim's " Into the Woods" I have an uncle who I always refer to as my favorite uncle. He and his wife both were my favorites and I have no idea why. I have a lot of relatives, why did they get the top spot? I remember them both for their warm and how they asked me about myself and payed attention to me, but I only remember one sound byte from my uncle, Lloyd Barron. We were walking together across the parking lot of St. Regis School. We had just got out of a  church function. I can't remember if it was a confirmation, graduation or a funeral. We were walking toward the Fr. Shield room at the school for a recepti...

Remember that scene in Star Wars: A New Hope (the original, first of the series well before JarJar Binks), where Obi Wan and Darth Vader are fighting and Obi Wan says, "You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine." ?  Well, to remind you, Obi Wan allows himself to be struck down by Darth Vader, but disappears. We later find him talking to Luke in his head. Well, I believe that Love is like that. Obi Wan was Luke's spiritual teacher, coach and confidant. I don't think you can truly teach anyone without loving them first. Teaching is a form of Love. The wanting to raise your students to a new, smarter level is easily defined as Love. Not surprisingly, all the great spiritual leaders started as teachers. Jesus was called teacher by his disciples and continually taught. For a student to learn, they must Love their teacher. Not in the perverted sense that we see in a few headlines, but a respect ...

True Love gets a lot of fanfare on tv and movies. This notion that there is this ONE person out in a world of 7 billion people that is right for you, is such a romantic ideal. But for someone like myself who occasionally plays the Power Ball, with romantic ideas about becoming rich, I have come to realize the absurdity of the odds. If there is only one person for you then it is actually very tragic. I think it could also be very magical, if you are lucky like I am to have come together, against all odds, with the most beautiful, talented compliment to myself-my wife, Cory. We have been together for about 25 years now. Crazy. Wonderful. But as I watch my Mom who, after the death of my Dad, was able to fall in love again, I know that true Love is not about that ONE person. It is, however, about one person. That person is you. True Love resides within. Love must be cultivated. You water it. Feed it. Nurture it within yourself so that you can let it expand outside of yourself. That Lo...