love

"All you need is love."  The great John Lennon communicated life's greatest secret with beauty, joy, and rhythym.

And I believe him.  All we need in this life is love.  If we all exuded love to our fullest capacity, the kingdom of heaven would become reality.


But why don't we?  What prevents us?  The Bible speaks very, very clearly about the importance of what John Lennon sang. 
Yet, even as Christians, it's almost as if sometimes, we just don't hear or remember what the Bible says.
 

Instead, we get stuck in our humanity, where "I" is most important.  "I" am right, "you" are wrong.  "What you see is not the truth."  "You've wronged me."  I see this happen between nations, religions, races, cultures, and even families. 

It happens everywhere, on every level.  We get stuck in the belief that our experience, our perceptions, our everything.... is right and true! 

We all think we are right.  No wonder we have nations at war and broken families.
Let's look at some exerpts from the Bible that speaks to love and it's purity:

"Love your neighbor as yourself."  Neighbor means one who lives next to another.  It doesn't have anything to do with race, color, or religion, nor what your neighbor says or thinks about you.  Does that mean if we have a neighbor who is Muslim that I should love them like I love myself?  And the friend who hurt me?

"Love each other.  Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  Your love for one another will prove that you are my disciples."  In light of this, what did Jesus mean when he said "go and make disciples of the nations?"

"Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God."  What then do we say about the Hindu who is devoted to and lives a life of service and love? 

"God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them."  Did this really come from the Bible?!?  If each of us saw beyond personal opinion, perception, and worked toward common good, then....... ??? 

The problem is not believing Lennon's simple truth.  The problem is,  what does love look like?

It's one thing to accept someone else's beliefs, but what about when someone so close to you challenges all of who you are?  What does love look like when you feel wronged by someone? 

I believe the answer to the question "what would love do?" is different with every circumstance.  Does it set boundaries?  does is accept the way things are?  does it sweep it under the rug?  does it hold it's tongue?  is it "tough love"?  does it defend?  speak?  protect?  does it tell you to only speak for yourself?  does it tell you to cut someone out of your life?  Why is "all you need is love", such a simple truth, but yet so complex?

Amidst the ever-changing circumstances and answers to the question "what does love look like", I believe one thing to remain constant and true:  Love, first, looks like personal communion with God.

One of the many beautiful things about love is that it is a mystery.  If it were a formula, it would lose it's power and sacredness.  It would become like dirt instead of the shining gold that it is.  Love is endless and boundless, and so is the way it is expressed. 

The experience, expression, and receipt of Love is at the core of the purpose of Life.  To find it is the journey, to experience it's totality is to depart from the human experience... death. 

God is love.  The kingdom of heaven is within us, as is the answer to what Love looks like.

May we embrace the mystery of Love.  In our quest to discover, express, and experience Love, may we be humble enough to know that Love isn't a formula, or a set of beliefs, or a set of perspectives.  May we connect with God and receive, not create the answer to the question "what would love do?"  May we let love be our only goal, because Love is all we need.