Do We Love Enough?

I’ll be honest: for a former altar boy, I am a fairly secular guy these days, though I do love gospel music. I spent this Easter morning listening to The Time for Peace Is Now: Gospel Music About Us, a compilation of obscure 1970s-era soul songs rooted in gospel. The music and message of the mighty Staple Singers looms large over the artists and songs on this 2019 compilation.

The entire collection was perfect for today, but the title of one song stood out: “We Don’t Love Enough” by the Triumphs. The straightforward message is captured well in the title: indeed, we don’t love enough.

Thinking back, I am fortunate to have received much love, particularly over the last week. This love came in forms and from sources both familiar and surprising. During a week in which I was attempting to process the first anniversary of Mom’s passing, all of this love – even if I did not recognize it as such in the moment – was comforting to me.

Now, whether I’ve been loving enough? I’m not certain, and it’s not a question I’ve thought much about, at least not in the broader sense beyond loving the people closest to me. But paying forward the love I’ve received is something I need to think about and act on.

~217~