Love Is
tucking you in and
kissing you
"Good night"
no matter how young or
old you are
Some people don't remember that
love is
listening and laughing
and asking
questions
no matter what your age
Few recognize that love is
commitment,
responsibility
no fun at all
unless
Love is
You and me
“Love Is” by Nikki
Giovanni addresses the novel and unusual understanding that “love
is … no fun at all.” Yet, that statement is written with the
simple caveat of “unless (that) love” is between “you and me.”
The “commitment and responsibility” we show to loved ones –
“tucking them in” and “kissing them good night” – are
blissful functions, not dreaded duties.
Yet one inference which
can be drawn from the verse is that such intimate care is much less
likely to be given to others less intimate to us – casual
acquaintances, strangers, fellow human beings. I think that is often
true about our feelings of responsibility to love one another. To
take care of those people can, indeed, be “no fun at all.” It can
simply be hard work requiring diligent attention.
Yet, the obligation to
love others in our society is absolute and crystal clear – a charge
given by no other than Jesus Christ.
“42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was
thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not
welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and
you did not visit me.’
“44
Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you
hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and
did not minister to you?’
“45
Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did
not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous
into eternal life.”
– Matthew
25: 42-46 English Standard Version
William Barclay
(1907-1978), professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the
University of Glasgow explained …
“God will judge us
in accordance with our reaction to human need. His judgment does
not depend on the knowledge we have amassed, or the fame that we
have acquired, or the fortune that we have gained, but on the help
that we have given. And there are certain things which this parable
teaches us about the help which we must give.
“1. It must be help
in simple things. The things which Jesus picks out--giving a
hungry man a meal, or a thirsty man a drink, welcoming a stranger,
cheering the sick, visiting the prisoner--are things which anyone
can do. It is not a question of giving away thousands of pounds, or
of writing our names in the annals of history; it is a case of
giving simple help to the people we meet every day. There never was
a parable which so opened the way to glory to the simplest people.
“2. It
must be help which is uncalculating. Those
who helped did not think that they were helping Christ and thus
piling up eternal merit; they helped because they could not stop
themselves. It was the natural, instinctive, quite uncalculating
reaction of the loving heart. Whereas, on the other hand, the
attitude of those who failed to help was; "If we had known it
was you we would gladly have helped; but we thought it was only some
common man who was not worth helping." It is still true that
there are those who will help if they are given praise and thanks and
publicity; but to help like that is not to help, it is to pander to
self-esteem. Such help is not generosity; it is disguised
selfishness. The help which wins the approval of God is that which
is given for nothing but the sake of helping.
“3. Jesus
confronts us with the wonderful truth that all such help given is
given to himself, and all such help withheld is withheld from
himself. How can that be? If we really wish to delight a
parent's heart, if we really wish to move him to gratitude the best
way to do it is to help his child. God is the great Father; and the
way to delight the heart of God is to help his children, our
fellow-men.”
– Barclay's
Daily Bible Studies, “The Fate of the Unprepared”
We are experiencing the
deadly pandemic of COVID-19 coronavirus. As health experts and other
public officials beg people to take responsibility and love others by
practicing the rules, regulations, and recommendations of social
distancing and sheltering-in-place, we still see those who ignore
those important instructions. Not only do they endanger themselves
and their loved ones, but also they endanger all other human beings
through their reckless, uncaring behavior.
These people use any
excuse to fulfill selfish desires while putting the public at risk.
Although some are simply ignorant, perhaps incapable of
understanding, most feel entitled. Researcher Emily Zitek, an
assistant professor with the Cornell University School of Industrial
and Labor Relations, says …
“Entitled folks are
motivated by a powerful sense of indignation. They don't think it's
fair for other people to tell them what to do. Instructions are
essentially an unfair imposition. They want to do their own thing.
They feel like they deserve good things and special treatment."
(Dennis
Thompson. “Why the 'Entitled' Think Rules
Don't
Apply to Them.” Web MD.)
Penalties or punishments
do nothing to improve the conduct of entitled persons – those who
believe they deserve the best regardless of their performance or
effort. Is is evident the government must make every effort to make
entitled people behave in a manner that protects us all. In the
context of this post, someone must make people “love” others.
No doubt, the times are
trying on us all. We are required to make sacrifices and pledge to
adhere to significant changes while maintaining a long-term,
steadfast devotion to principles that save lives. Nikki Giovanni
reminds us of that important “unless” about love. We
tend to take special care of intimate relationships. Yet, being
attentive to others at a greater distance who are desperately in need
may seem to be a tremendous hardship … evidently a privation many
are unwilling to take.
In
her verse, Giovanni acknowledges the hardship of being particularly
attentive to all people. We should do this in accordance to their
needs. We should do it with great selflessness. And, we should do it
in the spirit of a loving God. Even in a global and national
perspective “Love is You and Me.”
No comments:
Post a Comment