Amigos

I was just listening to that one Genesis song that totally sounds like a Peter Gabriel song, but Peter Gabriel was out of Genesis when it came out--you know, the "Follow you, will you follow me?" song? It's so pretty and I was really surprised when I found out it WASN'T a PG song. Anywya, it warms my heart. It just now made me feel how lucky (no, blessed!) I am. I have a sweet and rich life because it is interwoven with some of the finest people to ever walk the earth. And my husband just plain ROCKS.

I was wondering the other day if I were weird for feeling so deeply about the death of someone else's child, a little girl I never met in person. And then I had this little "aha" moment. There are many great reasons for truly loving other people, for creating real and lasting relationships inside and outside of our families--there's the whole baptismal covenant of bearing one another's burdens, mourning with those who mourn and comforting eachother, etc., and there are all the obvious benefits of having awesome people to hang out with, to roadtrip with, to compare parenting tips and gospel insights with, to help you be better, to share your load, etc. But here's another thing I realized: when we love eachother deeply and unabashedly, we can experience so much more in life. Because we are empathizing and truly sharing one another's burdens, we gain experience not just from our own tribulations, but those of our loved ones. And the more people you love and share with, the more you learn and grow, and before you know it, you're on the path to perfect charity, the pure love of Christ which endureth forever. Thank you, friends, for sharing your joys and sorrows with me so I can grow.

I love the promise that the same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us There. What a wonderful party that will be!!!