GIVE US THIS DAY LOVE

A new year has begun; with the new year comes new hope. For me, my hope is always wrapped around prayers to the sovereign One who can turn hope into reality. My prayer is for the world to learn to connect through the bond of love. I pray that the world learn the true meaning of love. By so doing, love will be lived, not just talked about. Rather than mentions of love only through words and emojis, we would see love in action in how we interact with and treat one another regardless of creed, race, and societal rank. Love will trigger compassion in us quicker than the need to find fault.

My prayer is for everybody to cultivate a great desire to seek to fully understand others and their situation rather than jump to hasty judgements that could result in emotional damages, as well as unethical treatments. One can’t begin to know how to interact with another individual unless both parties invest time in learning about each other. Otherwise they will end up forming prejudgments toward one another based on preconceived ideas, which most of the times are far from the truth. That in turn result in unfair treatments, some of which are deadly. The great Martin Luther King Jr. explained this type of predicament in these words: “I am convinced that men hate each other because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they don’t communicate with each other, and they don’t communicate with each other because they are separated from each other.”

The number one ingredient that will enable us all to come together is LOVE. The latter will bring everyone to a place where we see one another on the same level: the human level. To get there, we need to put a stop to the disillusioned belief that one’s social status and/or race make them better than the other. The reality is we are all one. The size of your bank account, your skin color, or your level of intelligence does not make you a better human being than others. A simple visit to the hospital is proof that we’re all susceptible to sickness and death, irrespective of riches, educational ranks, religion, or ethnicity. Such irrevocable truth can only bring us to this humble realization: “But for the grace of God there go I.” Also, in considering the position of those who are at a disadvantage, love would trigger a sense of not only compassion, but also gratitude, as opposed to an air of superiority and carelessness. My prayer is that we acquire the love that will make us appreciate the blessings and the ensuing privilege these blessings provide, without changing us into uncaring individuals.

The heart of the problems being reported daily in the news is a shortage of love. I pray we develop hearts of compassion, hearts that radiate pure love. Then, and only then, can we truly see the hurt of others and not just when heartaches and/or injustice come knocking on our door. We cannot afford to continue viewing unjust social occurrences (discrimination, hate crime, social inequality, or any form of injustice) only from a business/legalistic perspective. Our hearts ought to get involved in order for us not to overlook the human aspect of everything.

Give us this day love. The bible summarizes the need for this prayer very well. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3: 12-14

Give us this day love.

Louise Beaubrun-Macaluso, PhD