May: On Love

May 27

Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from “The Giaour” By Lord Byron.

There are places where the wolves dare not go. Even when pressed with hunger, they know to avoid barren landscapes, those slippery and icy slopes, or forests that have been burned and scarred by fire. These are places where nature is harsh and unforgiving, where life struggles to gain a foothold.

And there are places where even we dare not go willingly. Those emotional or moral wastelands where even the cruelest and hardest among us cannot survive long. The valleys of death and loss, where memories of joy and life are stripped of their flesh and their bones lie bleached beneath a merciless sun. Or those oceans of despair and grief and obsession so deep we sink without a trace.

But even in the most dire, hopeless, haunted, and morally extinct places, you will find a lone traveler—braving the cutting winds and poisoned air, trekking over the bones of the dead and through fields of knives—all to reach the one they love. And even if they falter or fail, they will not sigh, because nothing could ever make the pursuit of love worthless.

• Reflection title: Where Wolves Won’t Go
• Creative inspiration: Lord Byron, “The Giaour”
• Reflection Question: Where and how far would I go for those I love? Will I find courage to enter those harsh and unforgiving realms?