Love

Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist who created the hierarchy of needs, wrote that love / belonging is a basic human need that we all share.

Pope Leo XIV said of love, “God loves us. God loves you all, and evil will not prevail. We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and each other – let us go forward.”

Throughout the world’s religions you will find holy writings that pertain to love. Here are just a few of them.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Hindu holy writings, we read, “Love is not a mere sentiment. It is the ultimate truth at the heart of creation,” and “True love is to accept others as they are, without trying to control or possess them,” and also, “Love is the bond that connects the finite to the infinite.”

Muslims read the words of the Prophet Mohammed, who said, “You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I inform you of something which, if you do, you will love one another? Give greeting (peace) amongst yourselves.”

In the scriptures Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhists read, “When you love someone, you have to offer that person the best you have. The best thing we can offer another person is our true presence.”

Jews read in the Torah, Leviticus 19:18, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Christians may recognize this as something that Jesus told his followers to do, recorded in Matthew 22:39 and in Mark 12:31. As a good Jew himself, Jesus was quoting scripture and reminding his followers of a truth which was already there in the Torah.

In the New Testament, Paul’s letter to the believers in Corinth, 1st Corinthians 13:4-7, Christians read, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

There are many more scriptures about love. If you go looking for them, I’m sure you will find some that will speak to you.

I’d like to end with a quote, not from scripture, but from a spiritual leader, Ram Dass, author of “Be Here Now.” He was a psychologist, Harvard professor, and spiritual leader who was born into a Jewish family as Richard Alpert, and embraced Hinduism and many Buddhist beliefs. He wrote, “You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing. You don’t have to do anything to earn it. Your shortcomings, your lack of self-esteem, physical perfection, or social and economic success – none of that matters. No one can take this love away from you, and it will always be here.”

I agree with Baba Ram Dass. You are loved exactly as you are, no mask required.