42 Lovers

1Corinthians 13: 4 (a) “Charity suffereth long, and is kind;”
I look at the partial verse above and I think, “We have gone a LONG way from the truth”. Charity (or love) suffereth long…. In today’s society, it seems that suffering is viewed with the same displeasure or hatred that I believe SIN once was. NOW, our society tells us to SIN rather than SUFFER. However, I recently participated in an event and I saw a different application of suffering that gave me hope for today and our future.

42 men and women (35 men and 7 women) took time out of their normal schedules and for about 2 months subjected themselves to dancing. “Subjected themselves to dancing”, you say? How is THAT suffering? Well, if you have never learned to count 1-2-3, 2-2-3, 3-2-3, 4-2-3, and keep in step to that count, and learned to spin, and bow or curtsey, or reverse spin, then trust me, you are subjecting yourself to dancing – more specifically, to the dance of waltzing.

I saw (because of my injury, I suffered the ridicule of NOT being able to participate in the waltz) 42 men and women subject themselves to arduous dance routines that I believe ONLY LOVE inspired them to endure. They did the waltz, not because they had to, but because they wanted to demonstrate their love to their child, their niece, their nephew, or their friend.

The Kansas City chapter of Delta Sigma Theta (DST) Cotillion was the conduit that enabled these 42 lovers to demonstrate their love, but it was the selflessness of the 42 lovers that impressed me that “some of us have the definition of love right”. The 42 lovers (and 42 participants) suffered LONG, with GREAT reward. When the formal presentation event was held on April 3, 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri, the 42 lovers and participants glistened against the applause and admiration of the 600 plus attendees of the 25th annual DST Cotillion Ball.

Being kind seems to have gone the way of dinosaurs – become extinct. Rudeness is the way of the day. You are not cool if you are not rude. And yet, societal controls say, rude leads to crude, which leads to lewd, which often leads to crime – crime, which is glorified in the popular songs of today. We think, "Singing about it [crime] does not popularize it". “Singing about it [crime] does not promote it.” “Demonstrating acts of lewdness on television does not promote illicit sex and our children will understand that it is only an illusion that is being played before them.” And then, a major songstress strips naked in public, with children and adults all around. NOW what do we say? The child asks, "Why did she do that"? I ask, “Why did we think she would NOT do it”?

We are reaping the fruits of our crudeness. If we want different fruit, we need to sow different seeds. Let’s take it upon ourselves individually and collectively to sow kind words, considerate words, thoughtful words, words that build character into those who receive them rather than stripping them of their humanity. Let’s sow kind deeds that demonstrate to others that love is an action verb that bestows kindness, and that love is still alive. We can follow the songstress’s example, or we can follow the example of the 42 lovers. As for me, I plan to follow the example of the 42 lovers.