It seems that many of us look for love to be a long, drawn out explanation that is so deep and profound that we can’t surface for air (smile). But in my years growing up under the Teachings of my Father, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and listening closely to his language, he was not a man for many words but was very direct and simplistic when at the same time uniquely profound in his delivery. The title of this post is from his words spoken during the Theology of Time series of lectures. This particular one is from October 8, 1972, wherein he states that “love is agreement”. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan teaches us that love is not a simple emotion; but instead, love is a creative force. And within the scope of love, it can create as well as destroy. I thought it would be helpful to expound a bit on these words which is a principle that if studied and practiced, love will not be a question between any two of us.
First, let’s start intrapersonal: Do you love yourself? The strength of this Truth can be gauged and qualified when we take into account in what areas are we in agreement with ourselves; meaning the thoughts that we hold, the lifestyles we practice, the relationships we keep and our overall perception of self when looking in the mirror or, once again, listening to our own thoughts. Do you like what you see in the mirror? Do you like what you hear in the privacy of your mind? If not, then we are in disagreement with our own reflection of mind and in the mirror.
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, “disagreement is war”! War is a state of conflict. Are we at times in conflict with ourselves? Is our mannerism with others often hostile? If it is, not according to our own judgment but in addition considering what others may say to us about ourselves, would be a clear and truthful indication as to the quality of our self-love. If we love ourselves, we would behave, eat, relate and conduct all of our affairs with the goal in mind of self-preservation. We eat the best of foods and shun those foods that have a very low nutritional value because we love ourselves. We spend a lot of time with persons or family members that edify, add to, and increase our self-worth and happiness because we love ourselves. We don’t gamble our lives away and take unnecessary risks because we love ourselves.
I will not risk the opposite of these examples of self-love but you can easily deduce that if this is not a description of you as you interact with the world around you and qualify the One within you, you know the truth of the quality of your self-love. The objective here is to establish first whether or not we have a healthy amount of love for ourselves so that when we engage with others, our love for self will dictate with great clarity those things wherein we are in agreement with others.
Often there is great disagreement amongst family members and so-called friends. This means that the relationship is unhealthy and separation for a time may be necessary. Not because the other person has issues that are unresolved, but so that you and I can take the time needed to reestablish or cure our dissatisfaction with ourselves. A person who is dissatisfied with themselves to the degree that they rarely are content with and by themself, should not seek to be in a relationship for happiness with someone else. This kind of relationship can be parasitic. No man or woman is an island; meaning that we should never think of ourselves or take pride in ourselves completely cut off from the nurturing effect of interpersonal relationships. The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, “love for self leads to love of your own kind”. But you see, it all starts with your self-perception and the quality of love for the reality of ‘SELF’.
Have you ever heard how dissatisfied people condemn themselves and sentence themselves to isolation? I’m sure we all have at one time or another. But for now, I’d like to close this post with the words of Michael Jackson: “you are not alone”. In fact, we never are. “How is that?” you might ask. My answer would simply be because we did not make ourselves. There is an entity and a force that determined us and as the Holy Qur’an teaches, ALLAH (God) is the unseen. This means that even though we do not see Him at a given moment, it does not mean and must never be interpreted that He is not present. Let’s think about this. Until the next time, may ALLAH bless each and every one of the readers to see His Light and walk therein. 😇
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