Speak in Love?

Tomorrow, Abby starts the third grade. I've experienced a succession of whoa, how'd THAT happen?! moments in recent days, so I think I'm ready for it. I'm not so ready for the big day that Logan's not going to have tomorrow. I'm not ready to not walk him to school and into the special kindergarten waiting area. I'm not ready to not meet his teacher and fret over whether or not she's the best possible person to entrust with the care of my precious cargo. I'm not ready to not watch him trot inside his classroom, look back with that big beautiful smile, and wave a hearty good-bye for the day. And I'm definitely not ready to not feel that sense of victory I longed to feel for a year and a half; the sense of victory that comes after beating a horrible disease and moving forward in life. But it's really neither here nor there; I can't change the reality by wishing it away, after all. So where does that leave me?

Right here. Dealing with daily life. The good of it. The bad of it. The ugly of it.

And of course, since there's an election approaching, there's plenty of the latter. In the face of so much ugliness from so many sources, I've felt pressed to speak the truth, but to do it in love. What does that mean? Well, for me, it means keeping my trap shut when I want to issue a verbal beatdown. It means speaking gently and logically to defend my points. It means not attacking, even if I feel attacked.

It's a hard thing to do. And I fail a lot. But it's the right way to live. It's what Logan did -- he spoke in love, no matter what the circumstance. If a 5-year old could do that, it behooves me to at least give it a try. So this election season, it's what I'm trying my hardest to do. Because that, my friends, is the essence of tolerance.