Love As A Weapon

I happened upon a website the other day titled, Love Is Our Weapon. Before seeing that title, I had never really thought about love as a weapon. Webster's Dictionary defines love as a strong affection for another, a warm attachment, a beloved person. I continued on through the entries. Unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another. The fatherly concern of God for mankind. Brotherly concern for others. I grew up with four brothers and they owned boxing gloves. Love as a weapon? Pondering the possibility, wrapping my mind around the true meaning meant I would have to change the way I think about love. Perhaps it's not about buying the perfect gift, or saying the right things at exactly the right moment, but more about a state of being and a deeper understanding of why we are here. At any moment I can wield my weapon against evil, do something kind for someone who drives me insane, or sit and listen to an elderly person re-telling the same tale for the zillionth time. Or buy myself a present, just because. When I hold my grandchildren, I sense a great importance to brandish weapons of mass destruction around their innocent bodies, shielding them, protecting their minds and hearts. It's not easy to surrender my concept of love. But as I wake each morning, roll over and peer at the clock, I am reminded of a vast responsibility. Like two men preparing for a duel at dawn, with ribbons of fog curling around their ankles and light filtering between barren tree limbs, I will do my best to outwit the bad guys and choose my weapon oh so carefully.