I remember Love Day in the Simpsons. It was invented for commercial reasons. But I just wonder if it would be good to have a proper Love Day. There is Valentine’s Day, but that’s about romance. I never got a Valentine’s Day card. I think the postman might have lost all my cards. I can’t think of any other explanation 😩.
We could have it on June 25 because that was the date that the Beatles sang All You Need is Love it to all the world back in 1967. I remember someone in a documentary saying that the hippies were very good at singing about love, but they weren’t necessarily very loving or kind at an individual level.
And that’s not just true of hippies. It’s true of all of us. Yet, love is something that we should aspire to. This was a key part of the teaching of Jesus, and I would think that it’s a key part of most religions and even of nice atheists.
Matthew 22:27-40
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Here Jesus was referring to the Old Testament (Deut. 6:5, Lev. 19:18). The message wasn’t new, but people needed to be reminded of the core principles. It’s all too easy for religious people to drift away from the core message of the Bible. And even atheists generally show love towards neighbours, and might be thankful for their lives, even if they’re not sure who or what to thank 😀.
If this is a Christian site, why don’t I want a Christian holiday? Well, you do have Christmas and Easter any many feast days. For example, here in Ireland, we get a day off from work for Saint Patrick’s Day and Saint Bridget’s Day. Maybe we could get a day off for every Saint’s day. Then we would never need to work at all 😀.
But really, the New Testament says nothing about creating special days apart from The Lord’s Day (Sunday) and it doesn’t even say a lot about that. In fact, Paul criticized the Galatians for observing special days.
Gal 4:9
“But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.”
I don’t think he was forbidding it because elsewhere he seems OK with it, but he didn’t want people to insist on others keeping special days holy and making all kinds of arbitrary rules and regulations.
Romans 14:4-6
4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. 5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
Some evangelical Christians prefer not to celebrate Christmas and Easter because we aren’t told to do so in Scriptures and because they have their origin in pagan festivals. I personally don’t mind. I love all the Christmas and Easter hymns, and I love the fact that they remind people of Jesus. And I don’t have any problems with people celebrating feasts related to other religions in Ireland.
But Love Day is something that everyone could celebrate with parades and concerts etc. provided that no one started trying to hijack it and incorporate specific ideologies into it. The lyrics of All You Need is Love seem like nonsense to me apart from the phrase “All You Need is Love.” You could even take issue with that phrase. But the overall sentiment is pleasant.
Here’s a list of songs that celebrate love in general terms:
- “Love Train” – The O’Jays
- “Love’s In Need of Love Today” – Stevie Wonder
- “One Love” – Bob Marley & The Wailers
- “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” – Jackie DeShannon
- “We Are the World” – USA for Africa
- “Pride (In The Name Of Love)” – U2
- “Peace Train” – Cat Stevens
- “Love and Understanding” – Cher
- “What’s Going On” – Marvin Gaye
- “What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding” (Elvis Costello)
- “Zombie” – The Cranberries
Zombie isn’t about love as such, but it criticizes hateful Irish terrorists, and thankfully the conflict in Northern Ireland ended around the same time. Almost all the people that I met in Ireland despised terrorism. But you do get a small minority of young men who believe that murdering people makes them tough guys.
Wouldn’t it be better to show how tough you are by playing sport? Or if you’re no good at sport (like me), buy an electric guitar and play some old punk songs 😀.
Anyway, I always like to close with hymns. On Love Day, I wouldn’t want to promote anything specifically Christian in public, but I might play these at home.
Hibernia Gospel 