To start, we ask a very important question that has been posed by many a philosopher: Who loves you?
The western religions tell us that God loves us or Jesus loves us. Which leads us to two other questions: What is love and how can we tell who loves us?
Let us start with a definition: The American Heritage Dictionary states that love is an intense affectionate concern for another person. William Blake carries it one step beyond:
“Love seeketh not itself to please nor for itself hath any care, but for another gives its ease and builds a Heave n in Hell’s despair.”
In other words, if you love someone, you are willing to sacrifice your ease for their wellbeing. Now we come to the hard part. According to this definition, who loves you? Does Mommy, does Daddy, does sister or brother? Who in the wide world would sacrifice anything for you? Think about it. Who in your family? Who in your neighborhood? Who in your church? Who in your country? What would Exxon sacrifice for you, or Wal-Mart or JP Morgan Chase or the governor or your representative or senators? Who cares for you enough to sacrifice anything for your comfort? And likewise, for whom would you sacrifice anything?
What would you sacrifice for your community, church, state or nation? The powers that be state that we have to love our country and be willing to sacrifice anything and everything for it, even our lives,
But do the managers and owners of our government sacrifice anything for us? What do they give up to make our lives easier? If I died defending Iraq, for whom did I make the sacrifice? If I died for America and America is owned by Wall Street, did I die for something I truly loved?
What would the Democrats or Republicans give up for my welfare or political comfort? Would they cede any of their control over the voting process to allow me to vote for someone who was truly dedicated to both peace and love? Would they cut their expenditures for armaments to help me care for my children and aging elders? Would they ever turn their cheek for peace and love?
Stay tuned. Interesting times are upon us as love seeks to have its case heard.
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Herschel Sternlieb is a member of PeaceWorks. He lives in Brunswick.
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