I had a random thought…

When someone dies there is a tendency for us to think about and talk about the positives. We might be accused of acting as though the person was perfect –

Don’t you remember what she said? Don’t you remember that time...Don’t you remember the way she…

The haters and realists will remind you.

We forget their flaws or don’t want to mention them…it feels off limits to talk about negative qualities of people who are no longer with us (even though we know they had them). It just seems disrespectful.

Here’s the part where I had a thought:

What’s so bad about that?

Furthermore, what if we learned to do that while our loved ones were still alive?

What if we chose to overlook their peculiarities, quirks, weird behaviors and even hurtful events?

What if we didn’t have to see eye to eye on every issue? What if disagreement wasn’t threatening?

What if we forgave quickly?

What if we did all of this for the living?

It’s not that we wouldn’t have problems or that we’d be unaware of flaws. Maybe those things could just shrink in the light of our love for the person.

It’s a big thought and a tall order for many of us, I know. It’s a stretch.

But, what if?

There’s a good chance that when they’re gone we’ll wish we had.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.