Skip to main content

First I thought I would write about love


First I thought I would write about love, 
given that Valentine’s Day is tomorrow.

Then I thought, write about …

violence in our schools, streets, and homes, given that tomorrow is a terrible anniversary and last year was the worst in forty years for number of gun deaths …

climate change, given the rate at which the glaciers are melting, the seas are rising, and extreme weather events are increasing in frequency …

food insecurity, given that some 795 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life …

everyday dangers for people of color in our country, given the effects of prejudice and
structural racism …

greed and injustice threatening peace everywhere in the world, given … well, given everything above, except Valentine’s Day.

So I came back to love.

Will love end violence, save the planet, cure poverty, guarantee justice and equality for all, and create a fair distribution of world resources?

No.

Not love alone.

But love is the root and the guide and the bond. Love, unleashed, can move us to reach for one another without reservation, fill us with the joy of connection, and render fear powerless. Together, in that love, we can change the world.

Elaine Learnard, Conscience Bay Quaker Meeting

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Time

My mind has been thinking about time and how it seems to be different now with all of what is happening. First there is COVID-19 and our stay-in-place semi-lockdown.  For those who have full-time jobs, and even for those who don't, we schedule things around moments in time.  Our lives are routine-based:  when we get up, when we eat, when we work, when we have time for family, when we have time to ourselves, when we sleep, etc.  When our routines are disrupted, many of us feel out of sorts or even lost.  What happened?  Why is this happening?  When is it (routine) coming back?  I've heard that there are many Americans who find it difficult to take a vacation, a real vacation of a week or two, because it takes them away from their work for too long.  As we are gradually allowed to come back to our former lives before COVID-19, perhaps we will have a better sense of time, our old time.  But then again, maybe time will never be the same. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Next steps?

At last night's community forum,  Belief and Truth from a Multifaith Perspective: Finding Unity in Diversity , many expressed a desire to continue these kinds of conversations and to take action together for building bridges in our community. These are some of the ideas that were shared for next steps: Find something concrete that we can work on together in our community Come out with a statement to the community about this gathering Have clergy visit other houses of worship for teaching and conversation  Invite people of other faiths or no faith traditions into our houses of worship Bring younger people into our interfaith programs Ask elected officials to talk about this kind of work Identify root causes of hatred and address them Encourage media coverage of our programs What other ideas do you have for next steps? Please share them in the comments.
2 comments
Read more
I did not want to write about this virus-time. I did not think I could.  Another piece was in my mind this week, not quite yet taking shape. But when I sat to write, the virus took my attention and I could not wrest it back.   There are useful and funny memes online, and stories of good will and good works, and words of inspiration and comfort. And terrible stories, too.  Mostly at a distance, we have been sharing dance and art and music, facts and opinions, cautionary tales and fairy tales. We miss hugs and doing projects and working and learning together in person. Sometimes we are in a bubble for a while that lets us just be, free of anxiety or fear.  Sometimes we cannot get out of bed.  Sometimes we cannot sleep.  Sometimes we eat all the chocolate and sometimes we eat nothing.  We who are privileged live like this.  We are grateful to the people who work at the jobs we need to have done even in t...
Post a Comment
Read more