Love and Harmony

Lisa and I just celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. We have loved each other for over 31 years. What has kept us together for so long? What makes us a happily married couple?

Is it compatibility? People who know us know that we are very different people. Some would even call us incompatible. Is it because we agree on major issues? No. We disagree on all kinds of things. She has her way of thinking and I have mine, and at times they radically differ.

What is it then? It is love. It is love that has kept us in harmony for all these years. We've had our arguments, fights and even very short separations. We have had periods of long struggle where we've had to learn how two so totally different people can find unison and live together. It is love that binds us. I love her with all her differences. She loves me with all mine.

This is how there can be harmony within all communities, even the community of this world. It will not be agreement or compatibility that unites us in a harmonious relationship. It will be love. This is why I never demand that people agree theologically or that they conform to a certain agreeable lifestyle. This will not create harmony. It only creates the illusion of community, while at the root of it is enmity.

It is love that unites. That starts with me. That starts with you.