"Standing in the Need of Love"

By The Rev Ms. Denise D Tracy

Presented by Omni-University

Love. Wars have been fought for it. People have lied, stolen - even killed- for it. We seek it because the idea of love is the most important aspect of life. Most religions are based on Love.

For Christians: Jesus sacrificed everything because he loved humanity. “For God so loved the world...” scripture says.

For the Ba’hai: This faith says humans are created from divine Love.

Buddhists believe Advesa and Metta are benevolent love, which desires the best benevolent welfare.

The Muslim Prophet Muhammad said: “You will not enter paradise until you believe and you will not believe until you love one another.

”For the Jewish faith: You shall love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your might.”  

Unitarian Universalists say, “Justice is love realized.” Some quotes about love from famous Unitarian Universalists:

“A loving heart is the truest wisdom.” Charles Dickens “A bell is no bell ‘til you ring it, A song is no song ‘til you sing it, And love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay. Love isn’t love ‘til you give it away.” Oscar Hammerstein “Love is a fabric which never fades, no matter how often it is washed in the water of adversity and grief.” Robert Fulghum “Love is the great beautifier.” Louisa May Alcott You know you’re in love, when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” Dr. Seuss “There is no remedy for love but to love more.” Henry David Thoreau “Trust your heart if the seas catch fire. Live by love though the stars walk backward.” 

e.e. cummings “We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness and call it love, true love.” Robert Fulghum My personal favorite: “Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weakness.   In true love, we change for the other. We put the toilet seat up or down; We wipe the counters off; We put our clothes in the hamper; We adapt, we change to show the other[s] how much we love them. We learn to say, “I love you" at the end of a [visit] or phone call. We have three adopted "special needs" children. Our second child is 45 years old and is the mother of our three grandchildren. When we adopted her, she was 14 years old, with an I.Q. of about 70. She had crippled feet and hands. She was angry, violent, and awful. At one point, she had to be committed to a psychiatric institution. We almost terminated her adoption. In the middle of this stressful time, I looked at my husband as I thought to myself, “He is going to divorce me over this kid.” I said to him, “You know we can’t get divorced.” We stuck it out . We have been her parents now for 30 years. But, until two years ago, she never had told us that she loved us. Two years ago, I was hospitalized with a huge kidney stone. It was serious. My 12 year- old grandson, who was on spring break, told his mother,  “I need a ticket to go to Chicago. My grandmother needs me to take care of her.” Then my 3 year-old granddaughter asked my daughter, “Is Grandma your mother?” “Yes,” my daughter answered. “Well you know, she loves you a lot,” my granddaughter announced. My daughter telephoned me [from her home in California] and told me both stories. She ended the call with these four words, “I love you, Mom” It took 30 years but our daughter finally recognized our mutual love.

My husband, Bill, and I were on vacation. As we drove, I asked him, “What do you think makes love true?” He listed these qualities: Common interests; Patience and Tolerance; Shared Spirituality; Compatible sensuality and sexuality; and Acceptance. “What about you?” he asked me. I listed, Forgiveness, Trust, Respect, Compromise and Gratitude. I will tell you my two truths:

[Truth One]

Take the one thing that first attracted you to your partner-  that one delightful surprising quality. This is the one thing that will drive you crazy, cause your hair to grey, and your face to wrinkle.  

[Truth Two]

If you have been married for a long time( Bill and I have been married for 38 years), at some point you say, "Okay, I am in this for good or for ill." You decide that there are good and not so good aspects and that you are going to put up with this- accept it- no matter what.

I was asked by a friend to officiate at the recommitment of her and her husband's vows on their 65th Anniversary. This amounted to 23,725 days, -not counting leap year days;  71,175 meals. How many discussions? How many arguments? How many joys and sorrows? Before the 65th recommitment ceremony, I asked my friend, “What have you learned and what advice do you have for the rest of us?” My friend said this: “No matter how long you are married, you never know the other person completely- even after all these years. If you knew then what you know now, you would have asked completely different questions. After a long time, you really feel connected and responsible for each other. You also know that in three seconds- one way or another- you can have a different outcome. Life has within it serendipity and synchronicity in the universe.” Right now, the world is both strange, and awful, and wonderful. If you are lucky enough to love someone, you are smushed together until togetherness could become too much. But, still love is the most important thing. It is worth everything we have. If you are lucky enough to have love from a partner, a parent, a child[ren], a friend or neighbor—celebrate your good fortune. Let those you love and those who love you know how precious True Love is. Appreciate the love you share.

Amen, Shalom and Blessed Be.