All You Need is Love

John Lennon was probably wiser than even he knew, when he penned the words to this song.  I will attempt to explain why.

Most of my young life was spent feeling very inadequate. Like most Christians,  especially Mormons (yes, we are definitely Christians), I was overwhelmed by all of the rules, or commandments, we have to worry about. The standards we set for ourselves can really be a lot to worry about.  When I was in my early forties I moved to a new neighborhood and found that I lived on the same street as a childhood friend I hadn't seen in many years.  Actually, this was my brothers good friend and he had spent more than a few years making my life miserable.  You know how big brothers and their friends can be.  Anyway, we spent some time reminiscing and found that both of us had similar lives. We  both had endured some hard times and struggled with this feeling of inadequacy.  Then my friend told me something that changed my life.  He told me how he had resolved these feelings and moved on with his life.  The answer is very simple.  If we get the true meaning of the pure love of Christ, all else falls into place.  Instead of worrying about all of the petty rules, all the Lord asks of us is to Love Him and our neighbor!

I went back to my home that evening with a lot to ponder.  My wife noticed I was deep in thought and asked what was wrong.  I told her what I was thinking about and she laughed.  It was just too simple.  Of course this wife had what I call 'The Martha Syndrome."  Remember the story of Martha in the new testament?   The Lord entered a village and was received into the home of Martha and her sister Mary. While Martha bustled about serving and taking care of the details of having guests in her home, Mary sat at Jesus' feet and listened and anointed his feet.  Martha went to The Lord and asked him to tell Mary to help her. His answer is in Luke 10:41-42,  "Martha, Martha. Thou art careful and troubled about many things:  But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part,which shall not be taken away from her."  I think the skills of those like Martha are needed in this world, but we must not get so caught up in the details that we forget the love that is most important.

How does this work, you may ask.  If you truly love someone do you lie to them? Do you steal from them? You don't even have jealousy.  You are happy for every thing they have and all of their accomplishments.  When they have troubles you are there for them to help and comfort them.  You don't worry about rules because you simply want the other person to be happy.  Now extend that love to a few more people. Then more until we truly love all our neighbors.  Now extend it to our enemies.  How long do you think they will be enemies?

Imagine a world where everyone has this kind of love for one another.  We could go to bed at night and never lock our doors.  If a child left a bike on the sidewalk it would be right there in the morning.  Or, even better, it might be on the porch, under cover, because a neighbor thought it might rain.  Instead of a neighbor who complains about our trees growing over the fence, we might have community gardens where we all work together.  I could go on painting this picture, but we get the point.  This kind of world has existed at least a couple of times. The city of Enoch comes to mind.  There are instances in the Book of Mormon where people lived this way.  We have these accounts of groups of people who lived without contention and had all things in common. Since we can read of them we know it is possible to have this kind of world.

Now, as I have said in other posts, we can't change others.  The one thing we can do is change ourselves.  This will enhance our lives in many ways.  The obvious way is that maybe others will respond in kind.  I know of many people who have had this happen.  More on this later.  Another great result of living our lives full of love is that our own happiness will grow no matter what other folks do.  We won't be bothered by others actions like Martha was about her sister.  I like to believe that Martha eventually learned this valuable lesson.  I pray that we all will learn it as well.