LOVE
LOVE: that mysterious, deeply personal emotional experience that has influenced art, architecture, poetry, literature, music, fashion, religion, law and the public and private lives of individuals since farther back than anyone can count.
Love, in its various forms and stages, is known to inspire everything from the heights of appreciation, intimacy, affection, creativity, passion, loyalty, clarity, courage, commitment, sacrifice, devotion, generosity and supreme joy - to the destructive depths of despair, dissatisfaction, remorse, fear, rage, loneliness and grief (which happens often when it is absent, misunderstood, abused, unrequited or ill-placed). At its best, Love given and/or received affirms one’s sense of individual worth and unique place in this world - one’s capacity for kindness and compassion. Those who say that “God is Love” recognize it as an eternal presence, imbued within all that lives - and as an ideal toward which human beings must ever strive.
Jewish tradition speaks of the directive to love God’s Law, and to express that Love through service and acts of loving kindness to everyone (including strangers). Christianity links Love with divine sacrifice and with salvation. Islam teaches that Love is one of God’s greatest blessings upon humanity, to be returned through the cultivation of specific virtues. Buddhism defines Love as the desire for another’s well being.
While the seven Unitarian Universalist Principles do not specifically mention it, Love is lifted up in our Sources as a ”trans-forming power”, and in our living tradition as that which we are called to “put into action” and “stand on the side” of. Many UU congregations sing a blessing each Sunday (SLT hymn #413) “may the love of God Surround you everywhere you may go”; quote Francis David’s words: “you need not think alike to love alike”; highlight Love in their Mission Statements, and in their Covenants; and speak of the love they feel for, and within, their congregations.
What’s your take on LOVE?
LOVE: that mysterious, deeply personal emotional experience that has influenced art, architecture, poetry, literature, music, fashion, religion, law and the public and private lives of individuals since farther back than anyone can count.
Love, in its various forms and stages, is known to inspire everything from the heights of appreciation, intimacy, affection, creativity, passion, loyalty, clarity, courage, commitment, sacrifice, devotion, generosity and supreme joy - to the destructive depths of despair, dissatisfaction, remorse, fear, rage, loneliness and grief (which happens often when it is absent, misunderstood, abused, unrequited or ill-placed). At its best, Love given and/or received affirms one’s sense of individual worth and unique place in this world - one’s capacity for kindness and compassion. Those who say that “God is Love” recognize it as an eternal presence, imbued within all that lives - and as an ideal toward which human beings must ever strive.
Jewish tradition speaks of the directive to love God’s Law, and to express that Love through service and acts of loving kindness to everyone (including strangers). Christianity links Love with divine sacrifice and with salvation. Islam teaches that Love is one of God’s greatest blessings upon humanity, to be returned through the cultivation of specific virtues. Buddhism defines Love as the desire for another’s well being.
While the seven Unitarian Universalist Principles do not specifically mention it, Love is lifted up in our Sources as a ”trans-forming power”, and in our living tradition as that which we are called to “put into action” and “stand on the side” of. Many UU congregations sing a blessing each Sunday (SLT hymn #413) “may the love of God Surround you everywhere you may go”; quote Francis David’s words: “you need not think alike to love alike”; highlight Love in their Mission Statements, and in their Covenants; and speak of the love they feel for, and within, their congregations.
What’s your take on LOVE?