Excerpts from “The Right Fight: How to Live a Loving Life” by John Kennedy Vaughan
“So often we think we are loving others by protecting them from truths that would help them become a better person because we don’t want to see them hurt. This is the reason people tell ‘white lies’ or withhold the constructive truth. “But because we know love is always truthful, we can also know that this is never really the loving thing to do, and such ‘protection’ is not consistent with what real love is. “Protecting means doing what gives the person we love the best chance to grow closer to God and to leave behind their own fearful and selfish ways. A protecting love tells others what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. “Protecting love also protects others from physical harm. If anyone has ever protected you, then I am sure you felt loved by their protective actions, especially if that protection required [them to] risk their own well-being. When protecting others with our words, however, it is so important to make sure what we tell others will protect them and not just hurt them. “The truths we tell should serve to build up and strengthen the people in our lives—otherwise, [what we say to them does] not protect them. “I have told people things that hurt them when there was really never any reason for them to know. I have seen people share things with others that only caused them worry and suffering. “Protecting people means doing what is truly best for them, not just doing what would make us feel good. The one thing we can protect others from, more than anything else, is our own fearful and hateful words and actions. Envy and pride will tempt us to protect ourselves or even hurt others for our own sake. That is not what love does.” In this pandemic, it is important that each of us protect ourselves and others from spreading the virus. But we can hurt people with our words, just as critically as this coronavirus can hurt them. We can hurt people by half-truths and non-truths, thinking we are protecting them. In our homes, neighborhoods and communities, love means sharing the truth in a loving way, not with the intent to hurt or put them down. COVID-19 scars lungs and scars those who contract it in a multitude of ways we don’t yet understand. Emotional scars that need healing, inflicted by even well-meaning persons, should not be another condition this virus and pandemic leaves in its wake. Love tempers selfish communication and nurtures truth and trust shared with pure motives. Quarantine with our families should provide them a safe nest to wait out the pandemic. We can do that with honesty spoken in love, so that when this is over, each one comes away with a stronger understanding of love and a stronger sense of well-being. Laus Deo, Kenny | 
