Where Is The Love?

I saw a few videos recently from the animal kingdom; one was a chick that stood under the neck of a cub to help support its head as it was dozing away, others were about different species of animals growing up together and helping each other out. A final one was of an animal whose mother died at birth and it was raised by a completely different animal. 

Each time I see these videos, I am moved by the kindness of animals towards each other and the understanding and affection they show each other even when they are of different species and look nothing alike.

At Easter, Christians are reminded of a man, Jesus, who preferred others enough to lay down his life for them and a charge is that they love God and love their neighbours as themselves. 

Loving others as we love ourselves shouldn’t require a song and dance; it should be as easy as a natural breathing process. None of us came to this world different from others and consequently we ought to value each other. 

Where is the love in the violence?

This past week is a Holy Week for many world religions – Christianity, Islam and for the Jewish people; each religion professes to a God of love and values the importance of love and life. 

When we see the headlines about clashes at a holy site for three global religions, one must wonder, where is the love? Where is the love amongst those who should know better, where is the love amongst those with ‘greater’ intelligence and empathy? Where is the love amongst those willing to kill and maim in the name of Love.

Where is the love in the mockery and goading?

In Nigeria, we have just come out of a hard fought elections and the losers are still licking their wounds, some court cases are pending, counter accusations are rife and the winners are relishing their wins with some rubbing it in the face of their opponents. 

Many have not exhibited any grace or decency in winning or losing; some have argued the losers would have done worse had they won and use this as justification for their gloating and continued provocation of others. 

Sadly many who are calling for wars have no idea of what that looks like and what it would mean for them, their families, homes, businesses, resources, health, wellbeing, freedom and future. They speak of ‘burning’ the nation down as though they can rebuild it easily. Some don’t appear to see the link between their angry and divisive words and the potential consequences.

I find myself wondering ‘where is the love?’

Where is the love in the cultures we celebrate and hold dear

Many of us hold our cultures dearly to heart and rightly so, but in every culture, there are elements that are right and wrong. Sadly too many are willing to look the other way for self-interest. 

A friend recently lost her husband and I couldn’t help but remember what happened to others in similar situations due to the cultures some of us accept without questions. Widows and children of the deceased are sometimes abandoned as relatives stake claims to what ‘apparently’ belongs to their son like the wife played no role at all in what they have. 

In some cultures, females are disenfranchised but we accept it because there are always gainers. But the question must be asked, where is the love when a widow is thrown out like the years she invested in the marriage meant nothing? Where is the love when people turn their backs on their relative’s children just because of what they stand to gain materially?

Where is the love when we fail to honour our promises?

I was chatting to my sister recently and we got onto the subject of lending to others. Sadly many of these loans remain largely unpaid because the debtors soon forget what they were saved from when they were loaned the money. 

Excuses abound even when the evidence points to the contrary; people who are unwilling to repay a debt start talking about their investments and sometimes appear to be clueless or insensitive as they fail to settle their debts whilst rubbing it in the lender’s face. Love is what drives a person to bail others out financially but where is the love when the borrower refuses to pay? 

Where is the love when sacrifices can’t be made?

My son and I were reminiscing about when he played in a town football team that was really ‘rubbish’. As parents we took them to the matches knowing the odds of winning were nil. A good match was when they were beaten by only 6 goals, 13 – nil matches were common place. 

My son asked why the coaches still showed up knowing how unmatched the squad was compared to other teams and I replied it was their commitment and love for the team and for the game. 

I also reminded him of how he would run himself ragged because he was trying to win for them and how the odd goals were from him. He replied that he was amazed how he quickly moved from that team directly to the top team in the county. His own sacrificial love also meant he was scouted by agents.

Where there is love, such sacrifices from coaches, parents and players become common place.

This is an encouragement to ask the question when we take certain stances on global, local and personal issues. We must ask the question in our interactions with others or in our attempts to manipulate, abuse or take advantage of others. 

Elected government officials must be asked the question if they fail to deliver on campaign promises. When they put their pictures next to a pitiful project, we must ask them the question; and when they come back to court us in a bid for re-election, we must ask what love they showed to everyone not just to their cronies. ‘Where is the love?’ This has to be more than a song, it must become our passionate love song, war cry, call for justice and watch word. It’s time to get reacquainted with real, true and passionate love.

Thanks for reading my post and happy Easter.