I hate using that term. I prefer saying America is suffering from a brain illness. The term “mental illness” has assumed the status of stigma. Yet, my previous statement is literally true. One year before COVID-19 appeared on the scene, the Centers for Disease Control stated that one out of every two Americans would experience a mental illness during their lifetime. That number seemed high to me, so I asked a psychology professor at the University of Texas Medical School if this statistic was factual. He ruefully smiled and responded that if anything, the number was higher. I bet it is now.
It should be no surprise to see the division in our country—the hatred, the inexplicable behavior, the riots, destruction, and other disgusting deeds. These deeds represent all that is wrong in our land. Some are spurred on by a survival instinct out of whack. Fear, desperation, anxiety, and even hatred drive others. The past year has indicated that more people have battled with mental and emotional ailments. Generation Z is replete with cases. We have much work ahead.
So, what’s the solution? Cracking the code and resolving these challenges will prove complicated. The medical and social sciences will need to advance. Clearly, time will demand patience. I recommend one thing that all of us can do.
It is fundamental.
It is love.
Before you roll your eyes and pronounce that a cliché, let me remind you that sayings become clichés precisely because they pronounce universal truths. Truths that everyone can identify and truths to which all can instantly connect.
In this case, when I say love, I am not talking about a warm, fuzzy feeling. I don’t say “love” in the same manner as one would say, “I love ice cream.” Instead, I am referring to a decision—a decision that summons us to action—a choice to love unconditionally. I’m talking about elevating others’ needs to the level of our own—or even higher. It is rooted in the writings of Paul in I Corinthians 13 and the example of Jesus in Phil. 2:1-8.
I find it fascinating that young people identify with movies and TV shows that celebrate the hero’s theme: sacrificing for the sake of others. Episodes of the TV show “The Flash” and “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” consistently offer plotlines where the protagonists provide the ultimate sacrifice—their lives for the lives of others. These types of stories have been told for centuries. We yearn to live heroically, and these tales inspire us.
Well, now we have our chance.
We can help heal our land by offering unconditional love to:
our friends,
our acquaintances,
even our enemies.
Great religious leaders and moral teachers have all spoken about loving our enemies. We gain nothing from vengefully seeking to destroy our enemies.
Literature is full of stories about people who maintained vendettas. Jeffrey Archer, the English novelist, wrote a book called Kane and Abel. Later made into a miniseries, it was an impactful morality tale about one man seeking revenge against another because of the perceived grievance. He nursed that grudge until it destroyed him, but not before he discovered late in life that the one for whom he held a grudge had actually been his secret benefactor. He ends the tragic story with a lament—we could have been friends.
The lesson is not merely one of human feelings or sentiments. It warns of the boomerang effect. Not only is time spent destroying an enemy time wasted, but it also turns us into cannibals. But instead of eating others, we consume ourselves with bitterness, jealousy, rage, and more.
Unconditional love means we resist the temptation to spend our time destroying our enemies. We seek to serve them despite our negative or hostile feelings, which is the most extreme challenge to the call to love unconditionally. A life of unconditional love is not easy. Jesus revealed that to us in the Sermon on the Mount. It is counterintuitive. Loving others requires enormous energy, concentration, and countermanding the orders the human body’s non-thinking members give us. Yet, the pursuit is worth the experience.
There are many potential strategies we can deploy to get out of this mess. Still, unconditional love must be a part of the one we choose. Love will make a difference with our families, with our work, and with our country.
One nice thing about love. We ultimately do not measure our success by results, for we cannot control how others will respond. Instead, we measure it by the actions that we take. We do have control over those.
I pray God’s blessing for you in your pursuit of love.