Copyright © 2026 Women of the ELCA. Reprint permission is granted for use in Women of the ELCA units, clusters/conferences and synodical women’s organizations provided each post is reproduced in its entirety. If you enjoy this resource, Donate Now.
When I was a first-generation college student living away from home for the first time, I had a tough transition to life on campus. My loneliness manifested itself in anger more often than I’d like to admit.
But in my first semester, I took a video class with a teaching assistant named Ren Flagg. If I got upset about something, he’d sit me down and tell me to breathe, deep from my diaphragm. One particularly bad day, I remember running across campus in tears to find Ren in the university television studio. When he saw me weeping, he didn’t ask any questions. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me. I gave Ren no reason to love me. In fact, I sometimes was a complete jerk. But he loved me anyway. Without question.
I thank God for putting Ren in my life – not only because he loved me when I needed it most, but because he showed me how to love. When I find myself trying to love someone who has treated me poorly, when love feels downright impossible, I think of Ren, and I know it can be done.
This message is excerpted from “An image of love” by Sarah Carson from the June 20, 2016, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today we commemorate Boniface, Bishop of Mainz, missionary to Germany, martyr, 754.