THE MOST DIFFICULT TASK. . .

As I was settling in at my favorite coffee shop this morning I was thinking about what I might write for this entry, my first entry for the New Year.  I opened my little black book and found a number of quotations about ‘love.’  I kept returning to three of these.  I focused on one and closed my eyes and then I remembered the incident.  Before I continue, here is the quotation that kept calling to me:

“For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been given to us, the ultimate, the final problem and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation.” –Rainer Maria Rilke

It was a beautiful spring day.  The professor, Liviu Librescu, had just finished welcoming his students; his warmth permeated the room.  Suddenly the door burst open and a student crashed into the room.  ‘There is a crazy guy shooting everyone,’ he yelled.  ‘He’s coming down the hall now.’  Gun shots were heard.  Liviu calmly walked to the door, closed it and braced his body against the door.  He then told the students to climb out the windows. . .jump out as I recall.  Liviu Librescu was an English professor and a Romanian Jew who had survived the Nazis in his homeland.  Now he died in his classroom as he protected his students. . .those who had been entrusted to his care.  The killer shot through the door that Liviu was leaning against.

Mother Teresa reminds us that “Intense love does not measure, it just gives.” The type of love that Liviu Librescu lived into is not rare; it is manifested in our world each day, if not each hour.  Unselfish people reside everywhere; their stories are available to us if we take the time and search for them.  We know these people.  They love deeply and dedicate themselves to alleviating suffering.  They are willing to give a great deal, even their all, for another.  These folks are not ‘martyrs’ or ‘do-gooders’ or ‘holier-than-thou’ people.  The kind of love that Liviu Librescu lived is seared by trials; it is purified by personal growth.  It is shaped by persistent commitment, at times to rededication, and self-giving that steps beyond the threshold of duty or obligation.  You cannot ‘pay’ this person to love in this way; no amount of money or recognition or reward can motivate one to love in this way.

The love demonstrated by Liviu Librescu does not emerge overnight.  For many of us, it takes a lifetime of preparation.  We prepare ourselves without knowing what we are preparing for and yet when the time comes to love, when the invitation is there and when the opportunity presents itself we do not hesitate. . .we do not question, we simply act rooted in deep love.

I don’t know if I would have the courage (‘courage’ comes from the Old French ‘cuer’ which means ‘heart’) to love as Liviu Librescu did.  I do know that I am capable of unselfish giving and unqualified support and I, as you do gentle reader, have many opportunities to do so.  These opportunities present themselves in our homes, while standing in check-out lines, in our workplaces, as we are driving our cars, as we are waiting to be served by others (we can add to this list if we choose to do so).

If I choose to carry a bit of the burden, if I choose to share in the suffering, if I choose to truly see the other that is before me, then some will not have to bear a heavier burden and others will not have to suffer as much and some will be honored simply because I choose to recognize them as being truly human in my eyes.  Of course, for me, the operative words in all of this are ‘I choose.’  I am sitting here remembering Liviu Librescu who chose to love deeply on 16 April, 2007.

St. John was right, I think: “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. . .”