Willing the Good of the Other

Willing the good of the other.

This week I found myself wondering how this applies to the people who are hurting the most.

Over the last four years, I’ve learned that willing the good of the other is what it means to be loved.

But then questions arise. What if willing the good of the other isn’t what the other wants? What if it makes them believe that I’m wanting to hurt them instead of loving them?

One of the courses that I’m taking this semester is about a novel in which the main character gets her way and she has to deal with the consequences. The father in this story does not want her to marry the man she’s infatuated by, but eventually gives in. It’s a constant theme in the story that because this girl gets her way she ends up going through a ton of pain. In the moment, she doesn’t believe her father. She just sees the man she is in love with as the knight-in-shining armor. When the veil falls away, she realizes her mistake.

That brings up an entirely different question. Does “love”, as in the feeling, make us blind? Can it be called love?

I found myself writing “A Forbidden Love” this week and the story is utterly heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. It makes me questions what a good man is, what it means to love someone, and shows me that it goes beyond mere sentiment.

But we like the sentiment. We don’t like the suffering. Isn’t that interesting?

As I continue to write and ask these deep questions, I challenge you to ask yourself: “Am I willing the good of those I love?”