Dennis Galvin is a member of the Westford Finance Committee and is secretary of the Westford Republican Town Committee. The views expressed here are his own and do not represent the Finance Committee or Republican Town Committee.
In 1965, pop singer Jackie DeShannon, released a hit recording written by Burt Bacharach entitled ”What the World Needs Now.”
The song proclaimed that love was desperately needed in the world. In hindsight, the song was prescient. It came at a time when our nation stepped off into a chaotic and divisive period in its history, from which it has yet to emerge. The lyrics were written in the form of a prayer, asking God to send genuine love into the world. It is rather apparent to anyone, who still believes in love, that this prayer needs to be renewed.
In all of human history, there has been only one name that has been universally identified with the word love and that is Jesus of Nazareth. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that his unique impression upon mankind was not so much written, “as plowed into the history of the world.”
Emerson said that his life stands as proof of the “subtle virtue” of the word love on human consciousness. However, contemporary use of the word has so degraded it through cultural and commercial exploitation that some now regard it as a pejorative expression. Yet, unless the truth of love is recognized, our days as a nation and possibly as a species are numbered.
The Christian message warns humanity that the fate of the world ultimately centers around the collective impact of each person’s individual disposition toward their neighbor. If our dispositions have been shaped by pride, envy or anger, the collective impact will be marked by violence, discord and destitution. If our dispositions are shaped by humility, good will and the ability to forgive; peace, harmony and abundance, the fruits of authentic love, will improve our social condition.
It is very important to make a distinction between the authentic love preached by Jesus and its interpretation by many persons and institutions claiming to represent Him. Far too frequently, they mar his message through fake piety, triumphalism, exclusivity and hypocrisy. What the world needs now is authentic Christian love. The belief that humans are capable of creating a just and peaceful world without understanding the principles taught by the Nazarene is pure fallacy. Other approaches only offer to supplant one dominant and oppressive interest with another.
True peace and justice can only be attained when humanity learns as individuals to love their neighbors as themselves. This presents everyone with a challenge best described by essayist G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) in 1910 when he wrote “in every age, the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”
So, as Moses once said to the Israelites, we have before us “life and prosperity or death and destruction” the choice is clear: without love there is no hope.
