Love! During February, the month we celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, we celebrate love.
While the actual history of Valentine’s Day is shrouded in mystery, it has roots in a tradition of giving to one another. It is safe to say that brotherly love was at the heart of Valentine’s Day until, in the Victorian era, it became the symbol of romantic love. The fact that all major religions have similar sacred scriptures that instruct us how to love one another emphasizes the importance of love in the spiritual development of all mankind.
In the Old Testament, we find in Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” And in Leviticus 19:18, we see, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”
In the New Testament, when asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus affirms what is in the Old Testament with his words in Matthew 22:37-40, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
However, as Jesus was being arrested and then sent to his death, John 13:34-35 tells us that his very last words to his apostles were, “A new commandment I give to you: Love one another; as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
In Baha’i scripture, “The Promulgation of Universal Peace”, Abdu’l-Bahá tells us, “There is a need of a superior power to overcome prejudices, a power which nothing in the world of mankind can withstand and which will overshadow the effect of all other forces at work in human conditions. That irresistible power is the love of God. … Love is the source of all the bestowals of God. Until love takes possession of the heart, no other divine bounty can be revealed in it. … The more love is expressed among mankind and the stronger the power of unity, the greater will be this reflection and revelation, for the greatest bestowal of God is love.
We are all graced to live in such a God-centered community where folks look out for each other. In 10 years of living “life on the Hill,” I’ve seen a lot of loving one another. From people joining together to help the homeless among us, or coming together to host the Great Ogeechee Seafood Festival or coming together to raise funds for kids to be able to go to summer camp or have after school care at the YMCA, to sharing the loss of one of Richmond Hill’s favorite sons. In the coming months, I will be praying along with all prayer-filled people that God will open hearts across the world to face the difficulties and challenges of today.
“All we need is love, love, love” — and lots of prayer for just and loving solutions.
Adamson is chairwoman of the Baha’is of Bryan County and lives in Richmond Hill.