Italy
Yes! I think the secret to truly loving consists in knowing how to value the good that is in everyone, as each person is unique and unrepeatable.
That person whom God is placing beside me at this moment will never return to me as they are right now; if indeed they return, they will always be different in everything or almost everything, either through the growth of good within them or simply through the journey made, alone or in community.
And they will never have the same problems, the same intensity of hope, or perhaps even the willingness to commit as much.
For this reason, either we value them now or, in many respects, we will have lost them forever.
This is why it is important to make the most of every moment, as if it were the only or the last one we have, seeing in others a brother, a child, or simply a family member, without distinctions of sympathy or antipathy, whether foreigner or Italian, Christian or of another religion.
For us, the people who “by chance” (but is it really by chance?) stand before us always give us an unrepeatable opportunity not to be missed; for love is either now or it simply is not.
So, if we do not love them now by valuing their good, who knows, perhaps we will have lost them forever.
Here then is the truly serious approach to valuing the good that is in others: collaborating to build harmony, dignity, family, fraternity.
If we stop at some flaw in others (who knows if it really is one!), we will never manage to build anything serious; on the contrary, we will only raise new walls and new fences.
If instead we value the good, we will build much more with a handful of good than with tons of evil, criticism, and resentment.
Courage, then: let us always start from “valuing the good” and with certainty everything around us will bloom again.
