Not long ago, my son and I went hunting in Pomperville. It was midwinter, the coldest time of the year. We could have stayed in heated RVs with other hunters, but my son said, "No, Dad, let's sleep in a tent and embrace the hardship!" We lit a fire that eventually died down, and we crawled into our sleeping bags. In the middle of the night, my son woke up. His sleeping bag was damp, and his breath had frozen near his face. He got up, unzipped the tent, and stepped outside. "Dad, wake up! Look how beautiful it is! I can see all the stars!" he cried in wonder. I peeked out; the stars were incredibly bright, as if they had descended closer to us. The embers were still flickering on the ground, surrounded by limestone. It was a breathtaking sight. To me, that was life—even in adversity, because of the presence of beauty, warmth, and the companionship of family, everything feels bright and free of gloom. Wildlife biologist Sylvester Sorolla believes that every event in life offers a choice: to love or to fear. Everything beautiful in life is the result of choosing love. By "love," I mean our innate joy, hope, and pursuit of spiritual meaning. "Fear," on the other hand, is the feeling of inadequacy, the pressure of achievement, or the social belief that worth comes from material possessions. Yet, deep down, you realize life is about more than that, and that longing is actually a longing for love. I once hosted a program featuring a dialogue between a victim and a perpetrator. A 17-year-old girl said to the person who had brutally attacked her four years ago and left her for dead, "I don't hate you; I had to learn to forgive you so that I could keep living." That was the most powerful strength I have ever encountered. At that moment, she expressed our true purpose on this earth: to learn how to love. We live to love. Even in the face of hardship or death, we must learn to love and know how to cherish it. As we experience more, we develop a more compassionate view of the world and a greater capacity to empathize with others.
