All You Need Is Love

“All you need is love. All you need is love. All you need is love, love. Love is all you need.” For my freshman writing seminar I had to write an essay on the Beatles, and for the past three weeks these lyrics (Among other Beatle ballads) have been reverberating in my head. During this time I was forced into analyzing their claim because I could not get them to leave. A concept of universal love emanates from them stating that as long as we have love and relationships nothing else is needed. Obviously this is not true. We depend on food and water to supply, but physical nourishment can not quench the hunger of our souls. Many people who know me know that I am a firm believer in community and relationships. It can not be disputed that the concept of community is the basis of society. Politics, commerce, religion, and many other aspects of our lives revolve around our relationships with those that surround us. At the heart of every healthy relationship is mutual respect and love from the other.
When I say love I am not referring to the distorted view of love that our culture promotes on a daily basis. It isn’t superficial, greedy, or full of lust. The definition for love that I am referring to is what is outlined in 1 Corinthians 13. The Amplified Bible provides us with this definition saying “Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].” Whether or not you would describe yourself as a Christian, that chapter demonstrates the criteria for pure love that I believe everyone can accept.

Our lives are centered on our connections with other people, and often our emotional health is intertwined with our community. From the earliest of times we can see people forming themselves into groups. There are innumerable amounts of relationships that exist today. However, not all of these relationships are healthy. We live in a world that does not promote mutual respect, and this is something that I struggle with observing. Social hierarchy, objectification, and other forms of degradation are all around me. I am not going to make the claim that I do not participate in this type of behavior on occasion, I do. It is not something I am proud of, but it does happen. I can not tell you how many times I have wished to see true love being promoted and this grotesque monster done away with. I want to see people cared for, looked after, respected, and truly loved.

I have many friends that come to me seeking advice, and relationship issues are what they commonly come to me for. Quite frankly I am not sure why they choose to come to me, because many times I am in the same position that they are in. But through this I can see a desperate cry for love at the core of every person. It becomes even more apparent to me when I turn on the radio, open a book, or watch television or movies. I believe that the number of songs, books, and shows/movies that contain some form of a love or relational story far outnumber those that do not. I believe that this stems from an inherent longing to love and be loved in return. If that desire is not fulfilled then we feel broken inside. Mother Teresa echoed this sentiment when she said “Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.” Community is a basic longing in each person and I think that it is time for us to start reaching out and touching the lives of others. I don’t know how that may look for you, maybe it is helping a friend with homework. Maybe it is baking cookies for your neighbor. Maybe it is teaching Sunday School. Maybe it is traveling to a foreign country on a mission trip. There are many forms in which love can manifest itself, and one of my passions is seeing others reach out to their communities. This brings me to the end of my rant. I felt like sharing what has been on my heart ever since that song got stuck in my head. I hope that you all have wonderful days and I wanted to let you know that I am more than happy to be in community with you.