Secular people still long for what religion once offered: understanding, tenderness, peace, meaning. But without a divine figure to hold those hopes, we place them, often unconsciously, onto one another. We ask our partners to be perfect. We hope our families will redeem us. We swipe through dating apps looking for a kind of salvation. It’s understandable, and also heavy. Real love begins not with grand expectations, but with gentle ones. Not with the demand to be everything, but the grace to be