My father-in-law has talked about The Sound of Music for years. But it took an ugly virus and a quarantine for me to watch it with him. Forever he has sung “the hills are alive…”, and I cringed. As a boy with two sisters, I used to endure the singing and dancing until (finally!) the Nazi chase scene (a mere two and half hours in).
But as an adult, I paid attention from the start. You know why? Maria lives with heart. She does not fit in at the convent, but she knows how to let the song inside of her pour into the children to whom she becomes governess.
After a day with Maria, the kids stop playing pranks on her and instead beg their father to keep her around. Her joy infects them in the best way.
While we as a community of humans fight another infection and (many of us) stay home with good intentions, what would it look like for us to live with heart like Maria? If we neglect the needs of the heart now, we and our relationships will erode. We must find a way to keep heart.
Over the coming days, I plan to post ideas on the serious business of living with heart amidst the challenges of a quarantine. First, let’s start with the hardest one of all: love.
Love
I knew this would be the challenge during a quarantine: to love well. Loving well (or at all) is always a challenge. But during an indefinite quarantine? Talk about a tall task. Ten days in, there have been tough moments. When the kids start fighting and my wife needs me to take over, I contemplate touring the city in search of toilet paper, just for fun.
We are hard-wired to love. When we act out our deepest design, we love. During a short family devotion yesterday, my wife and I read 1 John 4:7-8 to our kids: God is love. We are made in his image. That we even need reminding speaks to how difficult it is to know our identity in this fallen world. Stuck in a home indefinitely, the call to love stands as one of our greatest challenges. How can we love others from where we are? And do we have the strength to love each other as boundaries get crossed and monotony threatens tyranny?
I need personal space. I need my routine back. I need anxiety-free trips to the grocery store again. And without a doubt I need NCAA March Madness! Maybe.
But mostly, I need to love. This will be our greatest and most worthy endeavor.
