(Not) Loving in Slices

"I take the good and the bad. I can't love people in slices."

Sean Connery as King Arthur in First Knight

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Sure, he could be caring but why is he insensitive at times? She may be sweet but why o why, when she asks for help, turns demanding? Some people endear themselves to me, I’d give the world to them. Yet these same people would also let me down, drive me crazy at times.

It doesn’t take much effort to love people when: A they’re adorable, B they’re so beautiful and C, they’re so cute and full of charm. But what if A becomes abrasive, B becomes bratty and C becomes cruel? When people become mean, foolish, selfish, insensitive, indifferent, manipulative, loving them would seem like the ultimate act of sacrifice akin to Mother Teresa taking in the sick and destitute from the streets of Calcutta.

While it may be easier to love people in slices—accepting them only for the attractive facets of their character—we might not really be loving them, in the true sense of the word. For then, it becomes an unconscious act, almost an instinct. Yet shouldn’t love be a conscious choice, a determined decision?

If we are going to truly love people, then I guess we have to learn. To love regardless, in spite of, period. To not be surprised when despite their best intentions, they fail us (We are, after all, guilty of failing others too). Yes, these days will come much more often than the once-every-76 years appearance of the Halley’s comet.The challenge is this: To forgive and love people anyway.

Nobody is perfect, and in this side of the universe, nobody will ever be. And that, for me, is a relief. Because among other things, it gives us a reason to need God as we ask Him to continually polish our character. To need God and ask Him to constantly let His flood of grace soak us until we can trickle it down to others who like us, are also fallen and sinful yet precious and redeemable.

I'm beginning to realize that like King Arthur, I also can’t love people in slices. I will take the good and the bad. After all, people would have to take the bad in me too.