This is Love.
The Coalition of Love Intro Post.
What is love?
It's a word known across the world, with many different meanings and contexts. Oxford English Dictionary has 10 different definitions, all related to “Senses relating to affection and attachment.”
Merriam Webster Dictionary defines it as, “the object of devotion, attachment.”
I’d like to introduce a different type of love. Agape love.
“The Greek root of love, ἀγάπη (agape) is simply defined as the highest form of love, a selfless love that is not based on emotion. It is a type of love that sacrificially seeks the good of others and is rooted in something much deeper than ourselves.”
Let’s look at a few examples in history of unconditional, agape love;
“7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”
-1 John 4:7-12.
“Intense love does not measure, it just gives.”
~ Mother Teresa
“The only way love can last a lifetime is if it's unconditional. The truth is this: love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love.”
― Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare
“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
This form of selfless, unconditional love- it goes against everything we’re taught from the world today.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a renowned russian author from the 1800’s explains this perfectly
“The world says: "You have needs -- satisfy them. You have as much right as the rich and the mighty. Don't hesitate to satisfy your needs; indeed, expand your needs and demand more." This is the worldly doctrine of today. And they believe that this is freedom. The result for the rich is isolation and suicide, for the poor, envy and murder.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
-1 timothy 6:10
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.”
-Socrates
So, if we believe in this power, this agape love- we must also go against the path of the world. We must be part of the change we’re waiting to see in the world.
"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."
-Steve Jobs, American business magnate, industrial designer, investor, and media proprietor
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
-Matthew 5:14–16
“The world is a hospital: people are patients, truth is the doctor, and love is the remedy.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo
And one more, that I discovered and love very much,
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker
So, powered by this same spirit, this same love- we’ve founded The Coalition of Love. Our mission is simple- give power back to the communities for better lives for all.
I could talk for hours about the benefits of community-focused improvement, under this video is a button that takes you to more content. But if i had to sum it up; when power is given into the hands of too few people, greed is always the result. Mega-corporations (define) are making billions, even trillions of dollars a year, yet at the same time, society is seeming to increase in suffering, inequality, poverty and injustice. Can you see the connection?
We have to work together. It’s the only way. Communities have all the resources we need to produce health, wealth and prosperity. They’re just not connected. That’s what the coalition of Love is for. We are the conference table that community members sit at.
The unity of a community equals the health of the land, economy, and people within it. Collaboration and connection are the strongest forces we have, and grassroots action is the most powerful form of action we have.
We’re very excited and hopeful for the future. If you want to learn more about what we do, click the media button below, and you’ll be taken to our community content hub. Lets get some unity in our community.
References
1 Oxford English Dictionary “Love”
2 Merriam Webster Dictionary “Love”
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