The source (and veracity) of the following story is unknown:

It was July 4, 1954, I Corps Artillery, Korea. The armistice had been signed the summer before. The I Corps Commander, a three star general, had scheduled his baseball team to play the Corps Arty's team.  It may seem strange, but Corps Arty is much larger than Corps.  Corps is strictly a tactical headquarters unit, it has very few men assigned or attached to it.  Corps Arty, on the other hand, is much larger.  At the time, we had perhaps 18 battalions attached, each battalion consisting of from 600 to 800 men.  The Corps Arty Commander, a two star general, took his baseball very seriously. He had a full-time team consisting mostly of professional players who were drafted by Uncle Sam.

Corps was the visiting team. Three men up, three men out.  Bottom of the first. Lots of hits and home runs. No outs. Corps ran out of pitchers.  Their catcher, a sergeant, tried his arm at pitching.  Score 0 - 18, still bottom of the first, still no outs.

The sergeant left the mound and approached the Corps Arty Commanding General.  He wiped the sweat from his face, stood at attention, saluted, and in a loud voice boomed, "Sir, request permission to call the game on account of snow."

The general stood up, returned the salute, and in an equally loud voice, "Permission granted."

I've been in similar situations, on the losing side of a terribly lop-sided game. It's embarrassing and humiliating!  What strikes me about this story is the willingness of the general to take an action that would alleviate as much embarrassment as possible to the pitiful losing team.

It seems to me that's what love does. In the story of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery (John 8:1-11), there seems to be a distinct effort on the part of Jesus to draw attention away from the woman to relieve some of her embarrassment (though he still held her accountable for her actions).

That's a difficult thing to do, but one for which we must strive --  to hold our friends accountable for their actions, while seeking to minimize their embarrassment. I'm thankful for friends in my life who have done that for me.

"And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.' "
(I Peter 4:8)