What is your superpower? he asked.

To be loving, she replied.

He laughed. That’s not a superpower. And he went on to give her a lecture on the multitudinous and mighty superpowers available for her to choose.

Finished, he asked again, So tell me now, what is your superpower?

And she smiled and replied, To be loving.

Angry that she had chosen so unwisely, again, his body grew ten times in size. Massive muscles rippled along his shoulders, His biceps bulged. He raised one gigantic fist high above his head and brought it down to the ground in one thundering blow. The earth shook. The skies darkened. His face turned red. His eyes bulged and his voice roared, “That is not a superpower!”

Calmly, she looked up at him towering over her, his whole body a mass of angry quivering muscle. Her green eyes were wide-open, clear and calm as a high mountain lake. “Love is the most powerful force on earth,” she softly replied. “It cannot be forced to become something else. It cannot be stopped through forces of hatred. Love is the most indomitable force on earth. It does not cower before might, nor dim itself in the face of danger. It is and always will be itself. No matter where I go, where I stand, or what I do, Love is with me, around me, surrounding and filling me with its power to transform darkness into light, anger into joy, hate into acceptance, and hurt into forgiveness. Love is my superpower.”

“I do not believe you”, he roared. “Nothing and no one can make me see the light nor transform my anger. Nothing can make me love you”.

She smiled and wrapped her arms around one of his mighty legs and held him gently in her loving embrace.

“You don’t have to believe me, nor love me,” she replied. “Love is strong enough to hold your disbelief. It is powerful enough to embrace us both in all the darkness and light of our human condition and never stop cultivating and magnifying the beauty of who we are when we stop fighting and allow love to be the force we empower to change the world.”

He had never met anyone who hugged him when he stormed. He’d never had his angry words calmed by soothing words. And though he did not believe it was possible for Love to change the world, he could not resist the warmth of her embrace and slowly calmed down enough to return to his human form.

“I do not like your superpower,” he said. “It makes me feel weak.”

She smiled and gently took his hands in hers. “You are not weak in the face of Love,” she said. “You are stronger than your wildest imaginings.”

And slowly, day-by-day, gently without force, she taught him the power of Love.