The Vision

What is "A Love Movement"?

Simply put, our vision of "A Love Movement" is an effort to
begin exposing people to the very real benefits and realities
of Love. Of treating each other, and ourselves, in a method
and mode where Love is the first and primary consideration.
This is not some flight of fancy or some ultra-liberal
perspective. It is actually a seemingly very practical way to
introduce more peace and positive influences in our
collective lives.

From birth, we have been taught, that newborn babies who
are ill, with whatever chronic disease or conditions, have a
much better chance of survival if they feel the Love from a
caring parent or caretaker. There have been a myriad of
studies which have proven how crucial Love is to the
development of children in general. Children who
experience Love abundantly are less prone to drug use,
violence, failing grades, and a host of other issues. From
our earliest moments, it is Love that reveals itself to be one
of the most important aspects of the human condition.

I heard a wonderful example today of someone's first
recognition of Love. As a child, she was sick, throwing up,
she wondered how her mother could stay with her and be
witness and party to that. Yet, her mother basically
responded, "This is what you do when you Love someone."

In the promotion of Love, there are other areas which must
be recognized as well. Among them -- honesty, respect,
fidelity, sincerity, acceptance, trust and self-
realization/actualization.

Because Love, simply put, is not enough. Yes, it is
wonderful, and probably one of the greatest gifts we have
ever been given. It is something that can work wonders and
destroy dreams. But if we fail to respect Love, if we fail to
treat Love in a respectful manner, we risk running afoul of
our very nature, of the very way we wish to live our lives.

Not enough people respect the power of Love, nor are
enough people aware of the very real and positive effect
Love can have. And we do have those who would try to
minimize these issues, who would cast it off as something
that is not really that important. Issues like money, food,
property, clothes, politics, religion, material issues -- all of
these are more important than Love. And you can have all
of these things without Love. While that is true, these things
are enhanced by Love.

What is Love?

Unfortunately, Love is one of these things that is hard to
define, because it means different things to different
people. If you asked 10 people to tell you what Love means
to them, they will each give you 10 different answers, each
valid for their own experience. So while I can't define what
Love is for anyone but myself, the only thing I can do is say
the one recurrent theme of Love deals with at it's core, that
you treat people in a way you want to be treated, and that
you don't use your expression of Love to hurt others.

While people are free to express and define their Love in
any manner in which they see fit, we must always be aware
that Love never seeks the subjugation of another, never
seeks another’s demise, never seeks to control or berate.
With Love, we should want not only the best for ourselves,
but for those around us.

What do we teach about Love

We have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to the
expression of Love. By it's very nature, by it's very concept,
Love is a progressive, forward thinking, benevolent
attribute. Love is something that adds to the overall picture
of someone's life, not something that seeks to distract from
it. We seem to have been taught that Love is not Love
unless it controls, manipulates, or even kills in the name of
that which is "good" or "right".

We have been taught, mainly by our religious and
governmental institutions, that Love is something that can
not only be controlled, but legislated. That Love can and
should be restricted because, in the ideas of some, too
much Love can be bad.

Yet, when we really think about Love, it is not something
that can be restrained. It is something that has to be free in
order for it to have it's fullest expression. This does not
mean we Love without consequences. What it means is that
we teach that one of the ways to live a life of peace and
productivity and yes, happiness, is to allow ourselves and
others around us to feel their own Love and our Love for
them in the most unconditional way possible. That there is
no shame in Love. Sometimes there can be fear, and that is
acceptable, but the key seems to be working through the
fear, not letting the feel control you.