To Know is to Love

It’s sometimes said that once you know someone’s story, it’s impossible not to love them. That sounds like a Hallmark card, but I think it’s kind of true. When we see people’s flaws and weaknesses in the light of their struggles and pain, it transforms how we feel about them. That moment of recognition, between one flailing, drowning human being and another, is sometimes the only thing that keeps us from giving up on the human race completely.

Let’s face it, these are difficult times. The news is full of powerful, unhinged people causing real damage in the world. But demonizing them, or the people who support them, doesn’t help us. It doesn’t help us endure, or resist, or rise above. It doesn’t help us maintain hope when hope is desperately needed. 

Love is a potent response to hatred and stupidity. In the face of inhumane acts, the first order of business is to reassert our humanity, and that means recognizing it even in those who abuse it.