All You Need is Love….

In 1967, John Lennon and The Beatles told us that “All You Need is Love”.  The meaning of that phrase was certainly so romanticized and attached to shear emotion that perhaps today we would say “All You Need is Luv.”  There was not a lot of heavy lifting associated with the “luv” of that era.  It was about feeling good and “doing your own thing”.

In the Apostle John’s first letter we are told “Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love”.  I suspect that if I look for biblical descriptions of that love, I won’t get luv.  Perhaps one of the most well known descriptions of true, biblical love is found in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.  “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”  If we couple that enumeration with a belief in John’s definition of God, one would think we begin to get a grasp of what God is.  “God is patient, God is kind…. God never fails”.

When we say God is the most important thing in our lives or we trust God or we need God, do we recognize what we are really saying?  We’re saying that love is the most important thing in our lives.  But do we really live that?  Or is luv the most important thing in our lives?  What, you might ask, is the difference?  Well, my brothers and sisters, we must first move our ideas about love to where it is not longer just a feeling or an emotion.  The God who is love does not love because He feels like it.  He loves because that is what He chooses.  So our love is not a love of feeling, it is a love of choice.  It is a choice where we are in total control.  There are days I may not feel like loving someone, but I must choose to do so.  Luv, on the other hand, is a feeling.  It is fleeting and short lived.  It exists for pleasure and its own interests.  It feels good.  It bears nothing, believes nothing, hopes nothing, endures nothing.  It will always fail.

This situation where we pray to the God of love, yet live lives of luv causes us to exist in a schizophrenic world. In our churches we speak of carrying our crosses and looking out for the less fortunate, but in our daily lives we complain and treat each other with disdain and apathy.  It is no wonder we are so conflicted and so displeased with our lives.  In search of the permanent, we have embraced the transitory.  If we depend upon feelings to satisfy us, it is only a matter of time until the feelings wane and we are dissatisfied.  Even the most upbeat amongst us grow frustrated and have bad times.  But choices remain squarely in our control.  A choice to love can and should be permanent.  Look at people who have remained married for 40, 50, 60 years or more.  Not every day in their relationship has been a “Hallmark” day.  They have remained together because they choose to love.  Not loving is simply not an option.  As my wife explained to my then 7 year old son, “Daddy and I don’t believe in divorce – murder, yes – divorce, no”!  Of course she was kidding about the murder part (I think).

A choice to love resonates through all elements of out lives.  Recognizing the call to “love one’s enemies” is a daunting prospect, yet once embraced becomes such a source of joy and comfort that one wonders what life was like before that choice was made.  It doesn’t mean you approve of everything the person has done, but you do wish them the best and treat them with a fundamental dignity regardless of whether they return that choice or not (Jesus didn’t tell us to “Love your enemies when they return the gesture”).

Like all journeys, the journey to love requires a first step.  Ask yourself, “With whom am I having problems?  Do I wish that person well or evil?”  Start with those closest to you and work your way out.  Try to look at each person as God does.  See what God sees.  Recognize that actions may be bad but people are good.  Now, how does your newfound choice regarding this person drive your actions?

Remember, all you need is God.  God is all you need.  God bless you, with love.

Terry Brennan, Deacon, Saint James Church, Gonzales