love your family

Go home and love your family

St. Teresa of Calcutta

I get it. In this world of overwhelm, it feels do-able to go home and love my family. This is something I have control over, something I can achieve, something that is possible.

But it is also not enough.

When Mother Teresa sent us home to love our families, I don’t think she was encouraging us to hold tight to our people and love only them. She wanted us to remember how remarkable it feels to be a part of sharing God’s love with others, believing that love is possible, and then taking that newfound confidence to move outward from our families and love the rest of the world.

Taking on the trauma of all people is overwhelming.
Honestly, it makes me want to shut down.
I feel ineffective.
Unproductive.

I wonder why what we’re eating for dinner even matters when the rights of Afghani women are being taken away by the Taliban. I wonder how I can sleep at night when there are migrants at our border desperately running for their lives. I wonder how I can blithely put one foot in front of the other when Black people’s steps are criticized at every turn. I wonder how I can laugh at the antics on reality tv when so many people’s actual reality is full of trauma.

I feel so helpless.

And then I look at my family and I remember that we are all a part of God’s solution. Our actions matter: the fun snacks bought out of love, the side hugs gifted by teens, the shared laughter that buoys our spirits.

These small acts matter so long as I remember they exist to make us carriers of God’s love to others.

So, here I am, at home, loving my family, so that I, and they, may take action to bring hope to the rest of the world.