Alderperson Brad Firkus’ Invocation At 02/05/2025 Common Council Meeting – “There are a lot of different ways we can express our love that show that certain things have more meaning than just a passing feeling of joy that we get from them.”

Mayor Woodford: Please rise for the invocation, which will be delivered by Alder Firkus.

Alderperson Brad Firkus (District 3): Thank you. Next week is Valentine’s Day, a holiday that brings the topic of love to the forefront. While Valentine’s Day is primarily focused on love as more of a romantic institution. The notion of love is applied in a lot of different ways. We love other people, of course, and even our love for other people differs from one relationship to another. We also love things like favorite foods, favorite vacation spots, places to live, prize possessions.

We love we—the love we express in each of these things differs in context. The way we love a restaurant is typically much different than the way we love a spouse, hopefully, but also in cases, most people tend to associate love with positive feelings. Love has a certain durability and resilience that liking doesn’t. Love can endure inconveniences and hardships. We don’t just love our children when they are behaving and acting pleasantly. We also love them when they’re when we’re comforting them at 3am while they hug the toilet and we just threw a pile of gross bed sheets in the wash. A food you love is one you’ll grab—travel great distances or pay maybe more than you should to enjoy, even if only as an occasional treat, but it’s still something that you will make the stretch to do. There are a lot of different ways we can express our love that show that certain things have more meaning than just a passing feeling of joy that we get from them.

So, love, that kind that aches from the marrow and will push you through the unpleasant and the difficult, is not just a warm feeling or a joy or pleasure. It’s not the feal behind hedonistic pursuits. It’s the compass of the spirit pointing us to what is important and what has real meaning in life. So maybe while we say we love a favorite hangout or love a vacation, loved a vacation, or our jobs or where we live, those expressions may not quite meet the threshold of love, but maybe they do. Saving money for that big trip might be might ask for material sacrifices in exchange for experiences with loved ones. Love can be difficult. Within the scope of citizens of our community, including its leaders, true love for the places we live, people in our community and in our lives ask us endure seasons of great challenge, to embrace what we need to do, and to persevere and flourish, to lead when needed, and support where we can.