Love Changes Everything
I woke up one morning recently with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Love Changes Everything” running through my head. Not the whole song, just the line, “Love…love changes everything,” over and over again.
“Fitting,” I thought to myself, remembering that Valentine’s Day was quickly approaching.
The meaning of the word love is vast, and encompasses everything from simple pleasure (“I love the beach”) to spiritual oneness and love of God and the great universe of which we are all a part. Between the two, there is romantic love, sexual love, platonic love, and familial love.
Love is not an easy emotion to define. It can be small and unassuming; it can be profound and all-encompassing—and, yes, it changes everything!
This Valentine’s Day love in all its forms is on my mind.
Just think about the Inauguration: I loved it when President Obama spoke the word “Stonewall” in the same sentence with Seneca Falls and Selma. I got chills and my eyes filled with tears. Sure, the President had already come out in favor of gay marriage, but there was something about the speaking of that word, in that situation, with the whole world listening, that made me stand a little taller and breathe a little deeper. The world for me, and I expect for a great many people, was changed in an instant.
Here in Delaware, CAMP Rehoboth and others are joining together with Equality Delaware in a statewide effort to achieve marriage equality for LGBT people. We have over the past year celebrated the passage of the Civil Union Act in the state, but now the time has come, it is agreed, to push for full equality.
With the advent of legal civil unions in the state last year, we witnessed the deep love of many of our friends and neighbors as they celebrated their unions. In many cases, the couples being joined had already spent decades together. Time and time again, we were privileged to take part in ceremonies that not just “tied the knot” but honored the tender and mature love that is only possible after years of living in a committed and loving relationship.
In March the Supreme Court will take up the issue of gay marriage with two landmark cases: a challenge to the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state, and a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Because of attitude shifts (especially in younger people), the success of marriage equality votes in four states in the November election, and the President’s “coming out” for the cause, supporters have high hopes that the court will rule in our favor.
Who knows, by June, everything could change, but even if the Supreme Court decision doesn’t go our way, the love we share with one another will continue to change attitudes and ultimately the world around us.
Love…love changes everything.
Humans are complex beings, filled with empathy and compassion on the one hand, hatred and fear on the other. We can be cruel and violent at our worst; brilliant and kind, generous and forgiving at our best. Love calls us to reach beyond hurt, to find ways of healing the wounds we carry in our hearts and souls. Love manifests itself in unselfish service to others, in the way we forgive others, in the way we celebrate the gifts of others, in the way we share our lives with others. Love transforms us in powerful ways.
Every week I am amazed at the love that members of our community are willing to give to those in need. From homeless shelters and soup kitchens, to care of the homebound and sick, there are quiet volunteers working everywhere to make life a little better for others.
Here at CAMP Rehoboth, the new CAMP/Mautner Cares project is providing volunteers to help with transportation, cleaning, and shopping for seriously ill members of the LGBT community—both men and women. The CAMP Volunteers on Vacation program reaches out to communities or individuals in need of assistance with gardening, yard work, or painting services. Our Health Services team continues to provide HIV testing, prevention, and education through our CAMPsafe program, as well as counseling to those who can’t afford it. Our support groups, men’s and women’s discussion groups, and grief groups provide hope and support to many.
No matter what happens on the CAMP calendar of events and activities, I know that we can depend on countless volunteers, and members, and donors for their constant support and love. The logo of CAMP Rehoboth is a house with a heart in it; the vision statement of the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center is “to be the heart of the community.” Without all that love and support, we would be nothing but an empty house. Because of it, we are truly a “home for all.”
Yes, love…love changes everything.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Murray Archibald, CAMP Co-founder and President of the Board of Directors of CAMP Rehoboth, is an artist in Rehoboth Beach.