Becoming Albus Dumbledore: Flawed in the best of ways #MNBHP

Do you see, Harry? Do you see the flaw in my brilliant plan now? I had fallen into the trap I had foreseen, that I had told myself I could avoid, that I must avoid.”

“I don’t —”

“I cared about you too much,” said Dumbledore simply. “I cared more for your happiness than your knowing the truth, more for your peace of mind than my plan, more for your life than the lives that might be lost if the plan failed. In other words, I acted exactly as Voldemort expects we fools who love to act…. My only defense is this: I have watched you struggling under more burdens than any student who has ever passed through this school, and I could not bring myself to add another — the greatest one of all.”

OotP

Dumbledore’s greatest flaw is also the best part about him—he loves “too” much. He loves half-giants that are expelled from school for unleashing monsters. He loves a former Death Eater and spy. He loves Draco when Draco’s plotting to kill him. He loves a Professor who teaches a subject he does not believe in.

There is no end to Dumbledore’s love. He is both praised and criticized for it. And this flaw leads to his death. A death he makes by choice because he would rather die because he loved too much than live because he loved just enough.

CHALLENGE

Each of us gets to choose how much we love. Loving too much is a flaw. It will bring us ridicule, hard times, and may even cost us our lives. But if we want to be like Dumbledore, we can’t just love enough, we have to love “too” much. We have to love those who make mistakes, who are our enemies, who try to hurt us, who don’t believe what we believe. We have to love and keep loving even when it doesn’t make sense because it is our ability to love that matters, not how many people love us.

Love as much as you can and a little bit more.

Next Week: Becoming Harry Potter: The Chosen One