Prince Harry

‘I love you more than insulin.’ So ran the last line of my 19 year old son, Tian’s, touchingly appreciative birthday greeting to his Dad this week. It’s not your average anniversary salutation yet it spoke volumes to Chris. We need insulin to control our blood sugar levels. As a Type 1 diabetic Tian’s body can’t make it. To stay alive he’s been injecting artificial insulin four times a day since he became ill at the age of 8. There’s no cure, but the injections mean he can live life to the full - something the gospels say we’re all called to do. Tian’s comparison of love and insulin caught my imagination. Like insulin love is life-giving. It enables us to stand tall, open up and open out. When we’re down it lifts us. When we’re lost in life’s complexity and confusions, love finds us and helps us get back on track. When we get out of balance and behave ‘off the wall’ it helps restore equilibrium so we can break self-destructive behaviour patterns. Like insulin, love can’t work unless we’re open to its power in our lives. At times Tian has struggled with the discipline of using insulin. Occasionally he’s forgotten an injection and, as a result, has become ill, sometimes life-threateningly so. Love too, has its disciplines. The people in my life who’ve loved me no matter what, have given me the safe space to get to grips with all that makes me less than human in my thoughts and actions, and to recognise and respond more effectively when I’m in self-destruct mode. At such times their love might feel constraining or challenging and I react against it, just as Tian sometimes kicks against his need for insulin. But the love remains, waiting quietly, however difficult I am, until I’m able to see what a fool I’m being. None of us are perfect people but love is what enables us to live and work with our imperfections and to make the most of our lives. As Tian noted in his special birthday greeting to Chris, it’s a priceless gift worth celebrating.