On Love

Image of the Week
Hand-drawn art by Rupali Bhuva
Image of the Week

I see so many people talking about the world's problems but so few talking about the solution to them: Love.

It really is that simple despite how complicated we often try to make it.

Pretty hard to keep a war going when people are focused on love. Pretty hard to have an economic crisis when people are cooperating together in love. Pretty hard to have supply chain issues and destroy the environment when people are engaging the earth with love.

And then some say: "Ah… but it is easy for you to say, because you have privilege!" But what good is privilege if it is not used for love? If the so-called privileged cannot even love then how can anyone else be expected to? I say it is the duty of the privileged to love, for if they don’t then they are not privileged to begin with!

Because the only true privilege in life is to love.

And then some say: "But there are many who would laugh at this idea… who would ridicule it… even fight it!" And I say to you: I have never heard a convincing argument against love. And I have never dreamed of a compelling future which does not include it. And anyone I’ve ever met who has lived without it is clearly in pain and suffering.

And then there are others still who say that this is high minded idealism and the reality is that we could never get everyone on board! And I say to them that humanity has never accomplished anything of value unless high minded idealism has been at play. And that history is filled with examples of small groups of idealistic, inspired people changing the world.

And further still I say that Love in human form is not a perfect state of being. It is a choice that you make over and over again. It is a commitment to a principle that you return to despite your inevitable deviations from it. It is a standard that you hold for all your decisions ...  all your choices ... all your relationships ... That you measure them by, that you do your best to uphold even in the face of great pain, that you return to when you are lost.

This is Love.

And you will know when you have found it by the way that it feels.

Ultimately, this is humanity‘s only problem -- That we have become disconnected from this feeling of Love. All other issues find their roots here.

And it is thus our only true need -- to return to this feeling.

The world will do everything in its power to convince you otherwise. And it is trying its damndest right now.

Or, depending on how you look at it ... giving you infinitely more opportunity to embrace it at an entirely new level of depth.

Seed Questions for Reflection

How do you relate to the notion that the solution to our world's problems is love? Can you share a personal story of a time you tried love as a solution to a problem? What helps you stay rooted in love?

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21 Past Reflections
KH
Mar 22, 2023
Khalsa Store is a unique online Sikh store that offers an extensive range of products and services to Sikhs around the world. We offer a wide variety of items, including clothing, jewelry, accessories, book, and more. At Khalsa Store, we take pride in offering our customers only the highest quality products and the best service available.
SK
Skye
Mar 18, 2023
Thank you🙏🌀🦋Infinite blessings & gratitude for this beautiful message & powerful reminder of the Truth🌸✨🕉️
TA
Tithi Adikary
Mar 10, 2023
I can add my voice on any story.
Please visit my sample voices here at my LinkedIn page searching as "Ms.Tithi (Analyst-TCS) Adhikary, Bauria-Howrah-West Bengal-INDIA"
As link are not allowed here in comments.
LO
Loren
Sep 16, 2022
Love is in, points to, and comes from, the details.
ST
Sep 14, 2022
'Love' becomes 'Real' as applied...by an Individual to a... Specific situation...to... Life
SU
Sep 13, 2022
Love healing and fixing everything is a high minded ideal. I agree with it, and also with the opinion that it is difficult to everyone on board with this beautiful ideal of love. So, it begins with each of us choosing how we respond to others and to situations. Our personal choice is the power and it is the only thing we control and the only way we can impact a situation and create that beginning ripple of love in circumstances and situations. Love can be demonstrated in so many ways, too: empathy, simple listening to another, a hug for another, selfless acts of kindness, to name a few. I'd like to see more love and also more recognition by each of us of the love and loving acts we receive and witness... Cheers to love!
AP
Sep 13, 2022
Knowing oneself initiates oneness with universe and fosters LOVE, which in turn makes us the privileged one !
JU
jude
Sep 13, 2022
the death of her Majesty the Queen of England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Island is such an illustration of how it is love --- for her and for what she represented in the best of humanity -- which has connected so many millions around the British Isles, and in many places around the world. It is so simple, in a way....and much to do with how men and boys, as well as we women and children and this planet....have been divorced from our vulnerable feelings in the patriarchal systems that dominate the world as we cannot quantify what is the essence of humanity -- our hearts and souls. So I thank Queen Elisabeth for the example she set and let us hope and pray that her son, King Charles and his family will retain their caring and concern for the future.
DD
David Doane Sep 14, 2022
I hope women will be more and more involved and lead in a way that is caring and working together and helps us all to reconnect with our vulnerable feelings. I hope women will lead in a woman way -- don't become like men.
JD
Jen Delaney
Sep 13, 2022
As a body-centered (Brainspotting) trauma therapist, I see that love and joy can feel too foreign to a client's body to sustain it. I have them practice it, alternating between the pain that they know so well and this new feeling of love and peace. More people need to be doing their trauma work so that their bodies can know and sustain love. The way I stay rooted is with a morning practice that includes Reiki, A Course in Miracles and Insight meditation. Wishing you all Serenity, Freedom & Joy... and, of course, Love!
JC
judy carran Sep 13, 2022
Congratulations on your devotion to helping others heal. I too teach trauma recovery with many tools. I have explored many paths and methods. Love and compassion are what we bring to others so they feel safe to heal.
Blessings for your path.
TE
Sep 13, 2022
In English we use the word "love" to mean a LOT of different things with a common theme of just that emotional response. Like the taste of a favorite food, or infatuation, or the relationship roles life bestows on us. Yet the more deeply committed (heroic even) love willing to voluntarily sacrifice itself uses the same word. Deeper yet is the infinite all-inclusive "unconditional love" ascribed to God (Agape in Greek) which leaves nothing out. Sanskrit has the word "Metta" to describe all-inclusive loving-kindness which seems the same to me (but without the implied personification of "God"). In any case, our finite ego cannot hope to manufacture or produce such Love, yet we CAN perhaps recognize, appreciate, value, and resonate with such infinite Love. To identify "love" only as a transient feeling does not really have much power to change anything (as pleasant as it may feel). Infinite Unconditional Love (Agape? Metta?) fits better in this passage but is quite impossible for a ... View full comment
GU
Gururaj Sep 15, 2022
Wonderfully well written , Ted. Thanks. May the resonance happen often.
TO
Sep 13, 2022
"In each moment I choose love or fear." I am writing this at 3:56 am...why?....because it is another opportunity to chose love over fear. Thank you for this opportunity!!!
JW
Sep 12, 2022
The Beatles sang it in a national broadcast, "All you need is love". Some say what a silly song, rather naive. Well who criticized the song got things all wrong. John Lennon tells of time when he was five. Asked him to write what he wanted to be when he grew up. John wrote I want to be happy. The teacher said he did not understand the question. Reflecting on this comment, John said the teacher did not understand life. Without love one cannot find happiness.
JW
Jon Williams Sep 12, 2022
How do edit a comment, should read those who, A teacher asked him.
DD
David Doane Sep 13, 2022
Thank you for that vignette -- it's touching; it says a lot.
JA
jagger
Sep 12, 2022
Yes, allowing oneself to feel love, even when the situation does not necessarily compel you to be loving, is the most difficult but the most gratifying human act. I experienced this when my ex-wife threw me out of her house and called the cops just to try to frame me in a crime, even when it was absolutely clear to anyone, that i was innocent. In this situation I COULD have justifiable been angry and get vengeful towards her. However, I was kind towards her, and this is what has made a difference in my life.
DD
Sep 9, 2022
I believe the solution to our world's problems is love. Love is oneness, and is the oneness of all that is. To live in and act from awareness of oneness is to live in love, which results in caring and working together and peace which would be the solution to our world's problems. As for a personal story, there is a man who cheated me out of money years ago which resulted in my feeling resentment toward him on top of my not agreeing with him about many things and my not liking him. When I remind myself that we are different but we are one, love overrides my resentment and my disliking him, I let go of all that, and love is the solution to my problem. What helps me stay rooted in love is my conviction that all is one and my reminding myself that all is one, and when I do that I am rooted in and living in love.
JP
Sep 8, 2022
It is my experience and understanding that unconditional love can solve world's mutiple problems on different dimensions of life: physical, mental, emotional, relational, natural and environmental. Love unites people regardless of external or outward differences. Love is sharing. Love is giving. Love is offering. Love is serving and nurturing. Love is connecting. In the world we live in there is a lot of divsivenes. We need to find a common ground based on emapathic underrstanding and compassion to respect people with different ideologies without fighting and hating.If we do not wake up the future looks very dismal and dark. Love can remove that darkness. I have friends with different political and religious ideologies. We have been able to maintain our friendship by having an emapthic and open-minded and open-hearted stance. Differences do not create distances by empathy and compassion-the core components of love. It is not always easy to maintain equnimity and balance. If we do not... View full comment
SS
Sep 8, 2022
People who ridicule the idea of love as a solution or a way of life usually have not been given love, and are my incentive and lesson to love more. The greater the ridicule and disbelief, the more I need to and want to love.