But that's not the only reason I've been meditating on love. If you're lucky enough to live in the Sag Hampton area, you get to read a pretty good local newspaper, The Sag Harbor Express, that occasionally has moments of brilliance. Such a moment occurred in the issue of May 3rd, in which two op-ed pieces were published that raised the level of discourse in our village to a level rarely seen in a local weekly, and they got me thinking about love, too.
The first article by Robbie Vorhaus, a CNN correspondent and communications consultant, is entitled The Sag Harbor Effect: One Less, One More. In this essay, Vorhaus starts by positing that no one he knows isn't stressed. He then goes on to offer a simple prescription for a new movement which he hopes will sweep the world, relaxing the world's six billion or so inhabitants. He suggests that we can start it right here in Sag Harbor, because...well, why not? On that basis he named it the Sag Harbor Effect. However, the real genius in his idea, and the part that got me thinking deeply about love, is in the details of his plan enumerated below:
- Choose to live in faith and the perfection of this moment.
- Choose to believe we are all connected; better than nobody, nobody better.
- Choose to smile.
- Choose to consciously have positive thoughts and feel better.
- Choose to focus on the gifts and blessings you have.
- No blame.
- Forgive, and forgive yourself, too.
I believe what Vorhaus suggests is simply putting love first in your life -- love for yourself, love for the world (as it is), and love for your fellow beings. Read the synopsis of his essay above again, and see if you don't come to the same conclusion.
The second op-ed piece, by Richard Gambino, a professor emeritus at Queens College, is called Murder and Malice at Virginia Tech. It's a bit more of a stretch to assert that Gambino is writing about love, and yet...
What he actually says is that bad things happen, and that we must have great courage to go on living our daily lives while acknowledging that we have little or no control over these things. People do very bad things and when they do "they've committed a kind of odious treason against our humanity. And living with this takes the most courage of all."
He also expresses sympathy with the existential viewpoint that each of us is defined by what we in fact think, feel and do (see Vorhaus, above), and concludes with a statement of faith by saying:
"So I tell myself to have courage, and I help my courage by everything from looking into the eyes of caring people to turning on a CD in my car of Beethoven's Leonre Overture #3, wonderful things that help put human malice in perspective.
"Consciousness is at once a great gift and a terrible burden. To give up the gift to avoid the burden is to give in to fear and stifle one's own life."
Again, maybe because of my own predisposition, I see this statement as a reaffirmation in the power of love to sustain us. Especially, its power to overcome its own antithesis: fear.
These two thoughtful and caring messages are strong testaments to humanity's better instincts and to our ability to heal ourselves and others through love. How amazing that they appear one above the other in our small-town weekly newspaper. Sag Hampton is indeed a special place. Be glad you live here. Be very glad.
Oh, and by the way, spread the Sag Harbor Effect. Start today...I know my wife will, and following her excellent example, I will too.
(You can read both articles mentioned above in their entirety at Sagharboronline.com.)
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Currently listening to: When I Was a Boy
by Dar Williams.
