John happens upon Jake while he is fishing on the shore of Nellie Lake, eight thousand feet up in the Sierra Mountains and a five-mile hike from the nearest road. Here’s a snippet of their conversation:
“If I remember right, doesn’t your marquee out front promise, WHERE LOVE IS A WAY OF LIFE!”
It took me a moment to even remember what he was talking about. “It’s been up there so long I don’t think anyone even pays attention to it anymore.”
“Obviously.” John let out a chuckle.
“You find it funny?” I snapped, not seeing the humor in any of this.
“I’d say more ironic than funny, but that’s the problem with institutions, isn’t it? The institution provides something more important than simply loving each other in the same way we’ve been loved. Once you build an institution together, you have to protect it and its assets to be good stewards. It confuses everything. Even love gets redefined as that which protects the institution and unloving as…
