Greater Love.

The Bible tells us that "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15.13, King James (my fave) version)

True enough.

Most of the time I read that, and I, like I expect most of you, cast it in terms of heroic actions in terms of war, disaster, and other, singular events. That's the only way I can remember having seen the phrase used. Up until this post, it's the only way I've used it.

Just goes to show how narrow my thinking can be at times, canalized by what I chose to do for a living.

Because there is another, arguably harder path to choose. Where one has to make the choice of a similar sacrifice every.single.day. Especially in a pop culture that promotes and values self-absorbtion as ours does.

I remember that day in the summer of '68 when we got the telegram that Dad couldn't stop the Army from sending because he arrived at the field hospital unconscious (he stopped 4 others that long year). Mom stood paralyzed at the door. I had to take the thing and read it.

It said Dad was wounded but not seriously wounded. It helpfully noted the helicopter did not crash and burn.

In our case, they were right. In *this* case, they were not.

Meet Flora and Johnny Brooks. Yeah, Brava! for this woman. Indeed. Greater love has no person than they give their life, for another.

From SanLuisObispo.com:

The military telegram arrives, and a marriage is forever changed.

By JULIET WILLIAMS
Associated Press Writer

STOCKTON, Calif. --The telegram arrived on Nov. 15, 1969: "Private First Class Johnny O Brooks was slightly wounded in action," it began.

Flora Brooks, 20 and recently married, read on, not knowing then how much her life was about to change.

"Since he is not, repeat not seriously injured, no further reports will be furnished," the telegram concluded.

The couple would grow old together, but not in the way either had envisioned.

There would be no children, no exotic vacations, not even the simple fishing jaunts they had enjoyed before Johnny Brooks was drafted into the Army and sent to Vietnam.

He returned home without a leg and would soon lose the other, along with his ability to speak and the use of his arms.

Nearly 40 years later, Flora Brooks continues to serve as nursemaid and constant companion to a husband who is confined to a bed, unable to talk or move on his own.

Read the rest here. And you should read the rest. H/t, Kevin.