Perhaps, you can see the love that flows between my son and his son in this photograph. It can be sensed, but never quantified.

   A former board member at OhioHealth, the ten-hospital system of which I was founding president, thought otherwise. For him, what mattered is what could be counted and he loved to play the role of a curmudgeon. A divorce lawyer, Jack Chester (recently deceased) had also served in the state legislature and loved politics.

   He was trained to argue. But, he was also good at recognizing when he was "beaten."

   One day, Jack stopped me in the hall and gave me his usual accusatory gaze. "All of the focus you've got on loving care is wonderful," he said, "but what does it really do for the hospital?" 

   "It's our mission, isn't it," I responded.

   "I suppose," he replied, "but how do you measure something like love?"

   "You mean if you can't measure it, it doesn't matter?"

   "Exactly," he replied.

   A lot of people who work in organizations think like this. In their eyes, everything is quantifiable.

   To be fair, the other extreme – where measurement is totally disregarded – is equally unwise.

   My effort to answer Jack's question continued. It was as if he thought we should have a love index on which we would calculate doses of love doled out and then measure the effectiveness of each dose.

   "Do you love your four kids?" I asked him.

   "Of course," he said.

   "How much do you love them?"

   "A lot," he said.

   "How much is 'a lot'?"

   He stared back at me. For once (the only time I ever saw this) he was speechless.

   "I know you love your kids, Jack. You can't measure it, but it matters most, doesn't it."

   We all know that love is the most important and immeasurable power there is. Yet, we continually try to quantify it as if its value could be laid out on a spread sheet and totaled up. 

   We do, of course, have an idea of what Love looks like. We see it in gestures, eyes, efforts to help. But, we can't count up its value to us.

   Many hospitals use "mission measurement tools." But, Love cannot be forced or its genuineness quantified anymore than we can calculate the power of God. The biggest value of such measurement tools is not their accuracy but that they focus attention on loving care. And where attention goes, energy flows.

   Loving care matters least when it is offered in order to reach some kind of quantitative target. The question is not "how much" love we give. The question is are we living it?

   We can't get paid to love. We can only live to love. 

-Erie Chapman

Cellphone photo- father and son – copyright Erie Chapman 2011