In the children’s book I am currently writing ( The Great Princess Rescue), two little girls are invited to go to a magical kingdom and locate a missing fairy Princess. But Effie and Stella are puzzled about how they can possibly help, because they have no magic, being human. They are told that humans have their own magic, but they are never told what it is.
Near the end of the book Effie talks to a wise woman named The Lady of the Golden Door. Effie asks the Lady about this magic that humans are supposed to have.
* * *
Effie furrowed her brow. “Was it because we thought of things? I thought of searching for The Lily and Stella thought of using her handkerchief to help Alastor, and to call the dragons. Is thinking the magic that we have? But that doesn’t make sense. Jess and Pingo also thought of things that helped.”
The Lady smiled. “No, the magic that humans have is far simpler. And far more important.”
The Lady of the Golden Door touched Effie lightly over her heart. “The magic that humans have is Love. Many creatures can love. But the love of the human heart goes very deep. Humans have a unique ability to love others, forgetting themselves and thinking only of the person who needs the love. This is a rare and wondrous magic that can be more powerful than any other magic in all the Earth.”
* * *
I think of this passage now, as headlines scream at me about great evil being done in our own country. As my own thoughts and my own doubts scream at me. Why can I not fix this, what is my role in this, what can I do to help? I feel angry, fearful, unsettled.
If only I had a magic wand. If only I could step in and fix all these bad things that are happening.
The one thing I do know is this. I have given my will and my life over the care of a God of Love. And what I am called to do today is to use that magic that humans have, which is Love, in my interactions with this world.
Not without self-doubt. Not without urgent questioning. Not without a feeling of shame when I have so much and people who have so little are suffering so much.
But again, I have given my will and my life to the God of my understanding, and this is the message I keep getting: Yes, take the actions that are in my power to do to change this world, to help others, to stand up for what I believe. And then, Love.
Love that person who grates on me. Love that other I should have patience for but don’t. Love those who are abusing their authority, not with some fakey pretense but by each day placing them in the hands of a just, righteous, and compassionate God. Love myself when all I can see is my own faults and mistakes and defects. Love those I live with, love those around me. Love the world by sharing with it my gifts and the best that I have.
“Sending acts of love out into this world at this time can be seen as a daring and audacious stand against the darkness in our world,” I was told recently.
So be it.