I Love You

 

“I love you.”

Three simple words. 

Said too much. 

Said too little. 

Full of rote promise. 

Full of meaning and power. 

Said through tears of planned passion. 

Confessed in momentary desperation. 

Wicked 2. 

Zootopia 2. 

Two completely different movies. 

Both tied together with the words 

I love you 

At their emotional peak. 

 

I like movies. 

I do. 

Yet I rarely slow down long enough to see them.

But I had the opportunity to officiate an out of town wedding this weekend 

And I found myself with some time on my hands. 

So I went to the theater and saw both movies mentioned above. 

I had heard good things about them both

And so I wanted to see what the hype was all about.

Neither movie disappointed. 

And both movies surprised me with their utterances of I love you. 

 

I will be honest. 

I did not like the first Wicked movie.

I had trouble separating it from the stage show 

And could not see it as a completely different experience.

But the second one was different. 

It had more depth. 

More meaning. 

More backstory. 

It wasn’t just the stage show set to screen. 

It was more.

And it was good. 

And it explored what it means to be truly good. 

And what we learned is that it’s not just appearance and pretense. 

It’s deep sacrifice and, well, love. 

 

I’ll be honest again.

I did not see the first Zootopia.

And even after seeing the second one,

I can’t remember the main character’s names.

I just remember laughing and being captivated by the story 

And exploring what a true partnership is. 

And it’s not being exactly alike,

Rather it is accepting differences and building on those differences and being willing to sacrifice yourself physically and emotionally 

For, well, love. 

 

And here’s the kicker. 

The love about which I speak in both of these movies wasn’t romantic love. 

Rather, it was 

True, deep, friendship love. 

 

I think sometimes we reserve the words

I love you

For romantic or familial love. 

But maybe we should normalize saying

I love you

To our friends.

 

“I love you.”

Three simple words

But the three most powerful words of all. 

 

Tell someone you love them today. 

You’ll be glad you did.