Would you agree there is no love like a mother’s love (unless perhaps it’s from a pet)? How about the 67% of respondents who think hate is stronger than love — or would you concur with Jesus, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama, and Mother Teresa? In honor of Mother’s Day, this post explores a critical need for loving each other amidst the hate and indifference promulgated in today’s world.

Nebulous Love
I’ll be honest. I waffle between striving to focus solely on love, and prudently protecting myself, particularly when random acts of violence are increasing — at least in America. I cannot rationally understand unprovoked aggression. Rather than be unaware and harmed, I choose cautious safety (no more traveling alone or exploring city streets for now). Would I act any differently amidst a hurricane?

“Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.” ― Anais Nin

Does that quote explain the current culture’s fragmented love? Have consumerism, selfishness, intolerance, a lack of spirituality, and unwarranted blame choked out seeds of love for one generation to sow to the next? How will humanity survive if love and guidance are absent from home, and divisive aversion is indoctrinated in schools?

I am still trying to comprehend and shake off the chilling Washington, DC murder where two teenage girls stun gunned then carjacked a Pakistani father of three who immigrated to America for a better life…and when the National Guard helped the one girl out of the crashed car, she was more concerned about her cell phone than the man she just murdered who lay limp and lifeless on the sidewalk.

This soul-less disregard for life is as atrocious to me as the George Floyd murder, Antifa terrorist attacks, and assaults on the Asian community, religious organizations, and elderly whites too. Quite simply, I don’t love or understand hostility — of any type.

“People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved, and people are being used.” ― Dalai Lama

Dolors of Disdain
Acrimony anguishes both the giver and receiver. The painful results of hegemony, MM and Hollywood’s aggrandized malevolence are witnessed worldwide today.

Have you noticed the increased attacks on religious freedom, the dumbfounded faces of newscasters when interviewing a spiritual person…or how Hollywood depicts religious believers as preposterous? I wonder if their lack of believing in something greater than themselves is why they hurl hate and divisiveness rather than a constructive, unifying message. They do have a choice. Everyone does.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.,

“…Of all change, the most powerful change lies in opening your heart wider and loving more. Love in spite of what you might not agree with and in spite of what you may not understand. To become more loving is the greatest gift. Love is the antithesis of weakness. The greatest strength will always lie in love. Love is the ultimate attractor and the greatest creator. Love is not inaction. It is a verb. It does not symbolize ignorance but instead it is action fueled by the power it holds. And the results of love will always be magic.

“It is not my job to change the minds of those who desire to harshly judge me. It’s merely my mission to love them too. This does not pose a threat. Only the jealously of my willingness to love can pose a threat. Still, we are all capable of loving each other. Love is a choice. The appearance of neutrality is merely an interpretation from the lens of one’s own understanding. It’s neither truth nor fact. Merely the meaning someone has given to what they perceive.”

“Unconditional love really exists in each of us. It is part of our deep inner being. It is not so much an active emotion as a state of being.” — Ram Dass

Fortitude of Loving
Whether religious, spiritual or not, harmony can be nurtured once the focus on separateness is shifted toward love. If we are all one, and from one, then the only way I can tranquilly process the violence is to envision wrapping those promoting malice in blankets of love. What else can I do but shepherd my energy toward love’s power to heal and unite? It’s a start.

“The more you are motivated by love; the more fearless and free your action will be…I pray for all of us, oppressor and friend, that together we may succeed in building a better world through human understanding and love, and that in doing so we may reduce the pain and suffering of all sentient beings.” ― Dalai Lama

Humans think they are better and smarter. But we can learn a lot from the selfless choices made by animals — several of them usually considered incompatible…

If a mother’s love is unconditional, is that not the purest form? If animals can reach across the kingdom to care for each other, humanity can too.

“Almost all of you misunderstand what unconditional love is. It is holding vibrational alignment with who you are no matter what is going on around you.” — Abraham Hicks

Happy Mother’s Day