January 27, 2026

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
I John 3:18
 
Last week, my teenage son devoured the last of a can of Pringles. He was hungry. He’s a teenager. However, his five year old brother was emotionally attached. They were his chips. He was distraught about them being finished in his absence. So, to mend fences, my oldest son walked to the grocery store near his job on his lunch break and bought his brother’s favorite chips and left them by his breakfast spot.
 
The little guy came down for breakfast and spotted the bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. “Where did these come from?!?” I explained his brother had bought them with his own money, walking there. As he slowly poured a portion in a bag for his lunch, he smiled and whispered to himself, “My brother loves me.” I don’t know if you’re the kind of person who best receives love by gifts, acts of service, words, time, or touch, or some combo thereof, like this gift of chips - a labor of love born from their time together. But, do you know your friends and loved ones well enough to be able to mend fences?
 
The older brother had apologized. His snacking wasn’t malicious. Most of the ways we hurt one another are not intentional or calculated. Predominantly, it’s accidental. And sometimes, a sincere instant, verbal apology is sufficient. But, ultimately, apologies are about love, connecting, seeing someone’s wound, and repairing it in a meaningful way. That part does require intentionality. In the end, a good apology can rarely restore what’s been lost, but those we’ve wronged and love, should perceive our efforts as love. When a wrong is done, great or small, the effort to reconcile should elicit the feeling… “My brother loves me.”
 
Prayer
 
Lord, help me to love well, especially in apologies. Help me reconcile and restore with intentionality. Amen.
 
Rev. Brian Daoust