Everybody, Everybody Wants to Love

Having been struck dumb by recent world events, I have wondered, the last few days, if I made a huge mistake launching a blog. What can I say that matters at all when hell has been unleashed on thousands of innocent people in the Middle East and in West Africa, and I can do nothing but pray and send a few paltry dollars over the internet. I want to love those people. Every last one. And I feel stunned and helpless.

A dear friend of mine is suffering from the devastating effects of her post-chemo medication. She has been on the Cross so long that she has lost her grip on “ordinary.” Every day brings another shock, another challenge, another loss. If it were me, I’d be bitter. But she’s not. She radiates a childlike simplicity and a humility so lovely that her eyes have been transformed. No longer merely intelligent, they are clear and luminous, as if heaven were shining through them. I think she’d laugh if she read this, but it’s true.

Yesterday, I was kneeling beside her in Church. We were praying the Sorrowful Mysteries and had come to the fourth decade. She announced it: “The fourth sorrowful mystery; Jesus carries his heavy cross.”

As we prayed, I looked up at the carved wood crucifix hanging large behind the altar and thought, Oh, she probably says, his “heavy” cross because she’s used to describing it for her children.

At that moment, I became aware of pain in my knees, as if I weighed a thousand pounds and my weight were bearing cruelly down into my joints. The feeling traveled upward as more pressure suddenly settled onto my shoulders, increasing the sensation in my knees and making me acutely uncomfortable. Just as suddenly, it was all gone. I was at peace, and my knees were perfectly comfortable on the padded kneeler.

I looked up at the wooden Christ and asked him silently, Was that a little weight from your cross?

I felt him looking at me, as if he were simply inquiring: Will you take some of my heavy cross?

I said I would and immediately the weight bore down once again, pressing into my shoulders and knees as before. The sensation lasted through the rest of the Rosary, and when it was time to rise, I was shocked at how stiff and sore I was. Getting up from my knees took concentration and a lot of arm strength. I hobbled out of the pew.

As I knelt at mass today, I realized that there was no remaining soreness. As quickly as it had come, it had left me altogether and I had forgotten about it.

With all my heart, I want to love the suffering world. Perhaps this momentary experience was a little opportunity to do just that. I am very grateful.

This morning at about 5:00 AM, I woke up with this song by Ingrid Michaelson playing in my head, over and over again (lyrics below):

Everybody

We have fallen down again tonight
In this world it’s hard to get it right
Trying to make your heart fit like a glove
What it needs is love, love, love

 Everybody, everybody wants to love
Everybody, everybody wants to be loved
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

 Everybody, everybody wants to love
Everybody, everybody wants to be loved
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

 Happy is the heart that still feels pain
Darkness drains and light will come again
Swing open up your chest and let it in
Just let the love, love, love begin

 Everybody, everybody wants to love
Everybody, everybody wants to be loved
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

 Everybody, everybody wants to love
Everybody, everybody wants to be loved
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

 Oh, everybody knows the love
Everybody holds the love
Everybody falls for love

 Everybody feels the love
Everybody steals the love
Everybody heals with love
Oh, oh, oh, oh, just let the love, love, love begin

 Everybody, everybody wants to love
Everybody, everybody wants to be loved
Oh, oh, oh, Just let the love, love, love begin

 Everybody, everybody wants to love
Everybody, everybody wants to be loved
Oh, oh, oh, Just let the love, love, love begin

 Everybody, everybody wants to love
Everybody, everybody wants to be loved
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

 Everybody feels to love
Everybody steals to be loved
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

 Everybody, everybody wants to love (oh, everybody)
Everybody, everybody wants to be loved (oh, everybody)
Oh, oh, oh (oh, everybody) oh, oh, oh (oh, everybody) oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh.
Everybody, everybody wants to love (oh, everybody)
Everybody, everybody wants to be loved (oh, everybody)
Oh, oh, oh (oh, everybody) oh, oh, oh (oh, everybody) oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh.