Disclaimer: This is not meant to be an opinion pushed for the reader to try Christianity or say one side of the two party system is wrong. If you continue to read, my writing is a mere reflection of movement I feel isn't just worth listening to is today's climate, but for all times.
I am from the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, IL, born on Christian ideals and raised into faithful maturity. I was able to grow in my faith through a very well known church (or string of churches) named Willow Creek Community Church or WCCC, located also in the Northwest suburbs. The church has an endearing history and upbringing, as well has earned the jokingly cute title of being a "mega church."
With thousands (yes, I said thousands) of people attending WCCC on average, they've been able to attract a lot of attention to this place many people call home. Famous individuals have visited and spoke at the church in connection the pastors message such as Olympic gymnast, Simone Biles, at their main campus, and Grammy award winning Pentatonix group member, Kevin Olusola, at the North Shore campus. With such magnitude and size, you can assume this faith organization has built up a lot of influence and possibly a lot of responsibility.
At the end of October 2016, it had been announced that WCCC has upstarting a new movement named with a simple phrase: "Love Everyone Always". This movement began and followed the same timeline as the heightened political climate during 2016's presidential election time, and rightfully so. Being a place of unity in community, it is understandable to create a movement to remind their church goers who they are at the core before difference and opinions. But as said, WCCC holds a lot of influence even outside of their church going community; social media, amazing events, and the mass communication from their thousands of church goers create enough ripple to make an effect on the outside public. So as I'm quoting, how is the #LoveEveryoneAlways movement more than just a cute saying, more than a hashtag on your Instagram post, or more than the community it serves?
As said, politics is becoming more than just an interest or topic as issues have created a whole life of its own in modern day life and media. Being an observer and someone who has passion in human rights is actually quite conflicted in a day and age where I see political agendas and debates everywhere. Many may say I'm not a true human rights fighter at heart than, but I'd simply disagree.
I've observed that so much of political debates from politicians to everyday citizens have been so quick to speak. Taking a step or taking a second out of the issue is sometimes difficult in the moment but is something I've learned from the #LoveEveryoneAlways movement. When our minds automatically react in spite & frustration, it is harder to speak on terms towards a solution and turns into a disposition of responsibility. Much of it feels like projection and pure stubbornness, which can leave not only a negative impact and impression but leaves us stuck in a conversational plateau.
#LoveEveryoneAlways is special to me because it reminds me how much love can mean in the world. It may sound super pacifist, innocent, sweethearts, snowflake, Christian, "bless you heart"-esque, or whatever you want to fill in that blank, it's a complex yet simple agenda that reminds me to humble myself. Love is easily seen and generally understood as black and white as a romantic relationship and your family relationships. However love is just that: general; too general to make it specification nowadays. Love is as if an umbrella term for more ideas and lessons we learn.
Think about it:
Love is listening; maybe you may not love what they are saying, and maybe you don't even love them, but it's the idea that you love being able to speak, so you should love their ability to as well. Love is being vulnerable in a time of someone's or your needs because we're all a human and human is one letter short of humane. Love is taking the courage is taking the high road to further a situation into a solution. Love is respecting others, even if you can't love or even like them. Love is wanting to know if people are okay, even if we don't know them. Love is humbling yourself, because humans are all human in the end. Love is trying to understand one another, even if we don't agree.
Because in the end, love isn't just a word we create to idealize about in romantic comedies or seen as "goals" from celebrities and on social media, love is not ideal at all. Love is a mindset, something that we should keep in our minds throughout our days. We may slip but love is not perfect. In all honesty, my own idea of describing love is not perfect because we have all these hypotheticals like, "Does mass murders deserve love? Do people with 'no morals' deserve love?"
It's a hard place to draw the line as we are constantly reminded to remember that there is bad in the world. But to plague our general lives with thinking of the worst before we even have a foundation of how we speak to and treat each other in this society does not allow us a good base. In a time seen as very divided, we don't have that basis of the many forms of love towards one another, something we all have the ability to share.
#LoveEveryoneAlways stands as a reminder for all of us on how we've lost our touch of connection in humanity which is love. Just because another has not shown us love does not mean we should stand it for ourselves but also does not mean we should wish them or leave them with that same...no wonder the quote "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" always eerily sticks around.