The love of God had become confused with the appearance of a family doing everything correctly.
Field Notes
No one has to be deliberately cruel for something essential to disappear. A family can arrive together, dress the children beautifully, know the right words, and fulfill every expectation—while becoming more attentive to the appearance of goodness than to the people standing beside them.
Love cannot be proved by order, obedience, reputation, or a life that photographs well. It lives in quieter acts: noticing when someone has disappeared inward, allowing another person to be more than the role they were assigned, and choosing presence over performance even when no one is watching.