We Love You

Stay safe, be kind, have fun, we love you.

I was at a wedding this past weekend. I love weddings. I like attending them, I like officiating them, I like wedding rehearsals. I really have a good time with weddings. Plus, everyone’s talking about love all the time. And at the risk of sounding silly, I really love love. Big fan. I think love is pretty much the best thing we’ve got going on as a species.

So I heard a lot about love this weekend. I said a lot about love this weekend. I thought about love this weekend. All of these things are expected on a wedding weekend. What I did not expect was what I was told when my plane landed at Midway airport as I was preparing to make my connecting flight. On landing the flight attendant came on the speaker and thanked everyone for choosing Southwest (I’m not sure that Southwest was a conscious choice, more just a painful necessity) and told us the local time and weather. All very expected. Then she ended by saying this, “Stay safe, be kind, have fun, and we love you.”

Stay safe, be kind, have fun, and we love you.

Huh?

I’m baffled by this, though not upset by any means.

I looked into it and it doesn’t seem to be that this is the standard sign-off for flight attendants at Southwest. It seems this woman went rogue. And to say “we love you” is an interesting decision. Is she speaking on behalf of the flight crew? All of Southwest Airlines? Did they make her the spokesperson for love?

I had just spent 48 solid hours surrounded by signifiers of love – wedding cakes, cookies with wedding dates stamped on them, flowers, rings, the whole shebang. I had thought that by flying away from the wedding venue I would be thrust back into the world that eschews love in favor of being needlessly cruel. That tends to be what air travel is these days.

But nope. Instead I got “stay safe, be kind, have fun, and we love you”

I really like that. We don’t have enough of strangers telling each other that they love one another. I’ve done it occasionally in my role as pastor, but that is supposed to come with the territory, unlike the role of flight attendant.

So how about a good old fashioned homework assignment?

Tell someone that you love them. And I don’t mean spouse or child or other family member. Someone who might not expect it.

Try it out!

It made my day better when I heard it.

That’s your homework, and in the meantime I hope you stay safe, be kind, have fun, and remember that I love you.

Peace,

Rev. Jeff Fox-Kline

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As you move through your week, take the chance to share a little more kindness, compassion, and love with the people around you. Sometimes the smallest words can make the biggest difference. And if you’re looking for a community where grace and love are practiced together, we would love to have you visit Twelve Corners Presbyterian Church, or contact us to learn more about us! Stay safe, be kind, have fun, and be reminded that there is always a place for you here. We love you.