The Value of Love

In the musical, “1776”, the character of John Adams has a song near the end of the show. Throughout the development of the storyline, there is a consistent struggle amongst the members of the congress that have gathered together to decide on independency or not. Adams’ song is entitled, “Is Anybody There?” He wonders whether anyone is hearing what he is saying on the value of independency. He feels ostracized. He feels no one is there. He feels alone. It is a powerful song that communicates how one struggles in life. The struggle especially comes when one is attempting to implement a value that one sees as vital and important & our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans accents a struggle in life and faith as well. Paul accents the value of love. It is an all-encompassing principal. Paul reminds us that love does no evil to one’s neighbor. Love is the fulfillment of the law. There are many ways we can choose not to love: adultery, killing, stealing or coveting. The only debt we owe to anyone is to love one another. But it is a hard and difficult road for us to walk. We need look no further than sometimes within our family, within our friends or within the people of our own nation to see the difficulty in loving. Looking beyond our own borders shows us how difficult loving our neighbor can be & loving a stranger often is the least loved experience we encounter. Again, think of another song, “Eleanor Rigby”. It is one of the Beatles’ most famous songs. The song speaks of a woman picking up rice at a church where a wedding has been. Holding the rice, peering through a window, living in a dream she someday will wed, death comes instead. As she lived alone, so she died alone. The Beatles’ lament: “All the lonely people, where do they all come from?” Loneliness often comes from a lack of loving. The lack is just not receiving love, it also comes from not giving love, offering to love another. Love comes in a variety of pack ages. It can be in the form of: presence, listening, an action, a word of encouragement, a challenge or a sign of comfort. What kind of loving do you need to offer this week?