Love Is, What Love Does

Everybody says they believe in love.

Everybody says they want love.

Everybody says they value love.

But love is not what we say.

Love is what we do.

In this episode of Good Morning, John Q., we explore the difference between feelings and commitment, attraction and devotion, words and action. From beavers building dams to the teachings of Jesus, from marriage and family to country and service, the question remains the same:

What does love actually require of us?

Part personal reflection, part cultural commentary, and part meditation on duty, this episode argues that love is not a mood, a slogan, or a transaction.

It is a choice.

Repeated so many times that it becomes character.

In an age that asks, “What’s in it for me?” this episode asks a different question:

“What is required of me?”

Because love is not what love says.

Love is what love does.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Good morning, John Q. This is the United States of Amnesia broadcasting today as every day from somewhere between memory and forgetfulness. Today's headline Love is what love does. Or put another way, words are bullshit, action's what it's about. I mean everybody says they believe in love, everybody says they want love, everybody says they value love, but love's not what we say, love's what we do. And that's where things get complicated because words are cheap. Action costs something. Action costs time, action costs sacrifice, action costs loyalty, action costs forgiveness. Action costs showing up when showing up is the last thing on earth you want to do, which is why everybody wants love. But nobody wants the job description. And before we go any further, let me confess something. I'm not a relationship expert. Hell, I'm a three-time loser, or four if you count a common law marriage. In America, that practically qualifies me to teach the course. And before anybody gets upset, divorce isn't always failure. Sometimes it's wisdoms, sometimes it's survival, sometimes it's the first honest thing two people have done in years. But it does force us to ask a question. What exactly do we mean when we say the word love? Maybe that's because we're confusing love with a feeling. And feelings, let's face it, are like the weather. They come, they go, they change, sometimes even before lunch. Love is something else. Love is behavior, love is conduct. Love is a choice repeated so many times it becomes character. Which brings me, oddly enough, to the animal kingdom. Now, if you're looking for relationship advice, I would not normally recommend taking it from a rodent. But consider the beaver. The beaver doesn't write poetry, the beaver doesn't post anniversary photographs, nor tell his mate how important she is. The beaver builds the dam, raises the young, repairs the lodge, protects the family, and then gets up tomorrow and does it again. And the day after that, and the day after that, no speeches, no promises, no hashtags, just conduct. Now before the emails arrive, yes, I understand the beaver's not a marriage counselor, but sometimes God's creatures remind us of something we've forgotten. Love is not what love says, love is what love does. Which brings me to Yeshua ben Yosef, better known as Jesus Christ. When everything else was stripped away, what were made? Love God, love your neighbor, love one another. That's it. Not admire one another, not desire one another, not agree with one another, love one another. Notice he never said talk about love. He never said announce love, he never said write about love, he never said declare love. He said love. A verb, an action, a commandment, not a suggestion, not a mood, not an emotional state, a requirement. The modern world asks, how do I feel? Love asks. What is required of me? That's not the same question. One begins with self, the other begins with service. Perhaps that's why we're so confused. We've become experts in attraction and amateurs in devotion. We've confused chemistry with character, excitement with commitment, passion with sacrifice, and then we wonder why the hell everything keeps falling apart. Maybe the old carpenter from Nazareth understood something we've forgotten. Maybe the beaver understands it too. Maybe the lessons have been sitting right in front of us all along. Love is what love does. And with that in mind, I'd like to beg your forgiveness for using this podcast as a sort of personal therapy session. The truth is, I come from a generation and from loving parents who taught me that some things were more important than self. God, country, family, duties, service, those things came first. Self came later, or maybe not even at all. Whether that's healthy, I couldn't tell you. A psychiatrist probably would have a field day with it, but for me, it's the only truth I know. It's how I was raised. And when I look around today at the headlines, the politics, the daily news, the narcissism, the transactional nature of so much of modern life, and the announcements coming out of the Oval Office, I found myself reacting the same way as I always have. Not by asking what's in it for me, but by asking what's my duty. Because somewhere along the way, we seem to have turned everything into a transaction. Love, friendship, marriage, politics, even patriotism. What do I give? What am I owed? What's the government going to give me? What's the return on my investment? But love was never meant to be a transaction. Duty was never meant to be a transaction. Service was never meant to be a transaction. And neither was country. Perhaps it's a blessing, perhaps it's a fault, perhaps it's both. But it's the reason I'm here. It's the reason this podcast exists, and it's the reason it will continue. So I'll leave you with the simplest and hardest commandment ever given. Love one another. Red state, blue state. Love one another. Truth is virtue. Amnesia is sin. Remember.