In his masterpiece, My Bright Abyss, the poet Christian Wiman writes, In any true love— a mother’s for her child, a husband’s for his wife, a friend’s for a friend— there is an excess energy that always wants to be in motion. Moreover, it seems to move not simply from one person to another but through them toward something else. (“All I know now / is the more he loved me the more I loved the world”— Spencer Reece.) That is why we can be so baffled and overwhelmed by such love (and I don’t mean merely when we fall in love; in fact, I’m talking more of other, more durable relationships): it wants to be more than it is; it cries out inside of us to make it more than it is.” 16

Brooks, David (2015-04-14). The Road to Character (Kindle Locations 3377-3384). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.