Bring Back the Light, Bring the Love

At the onset of this article, I would like to submit to you, the reader, that this article is an opinion piece written out of radical love for a community. The Bible tells us that “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”
Earlier this week I was in New Hall visiting with friends hanging out and having a good time. But, as the old saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.” When I was walking down the second floor hallway to the front door of New Hall I stumbled upon a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
After reading this I begin to think about Wittenberg and how that was related to us here on campus. As I was gathering my thoughts around this quote, I realized that we here at Witt have lost our light. We pride ourselves on having that very thing that we’ve lost. Our motto says “Having Light We Pass It On To Others.”
What happened to that light? Or the more important question, what happened to the love? How can we pass on what we don’t have?
We are so worried about what budget cuts the board of directors is going to be making in the coming weeks. We are so worried about the new indoor athletic facility and where the money is coming from to construct it. We are so worried developing programs for retaining students at Witt, but they aren’t working. We are so worried about all those things and so much more that we forget to love. Or even worst we forget what love is.
Love is caring, patient, kind and forgiving. Love is all those things and so much more that it can often be indescribable at times.
Here at Witt, we get the wonderful opportunity to be affiliated with the Lutheran church. University Pastor Andy Tune, told me that the only reason we as humans get the chance to love is because according to 1 John 4:19, “He [God] loved us first.” The Lutheran doctrine tells that we should serve our neighbors in love especially when they are in need.
So, the ultimate question remaining is how we get past everything else to get back to love here at Witt. I don’t know the answer to that, but I’m willing to take a crack at it. I think we should take it back to the basics. In a sense we must go back to our roots. From the outset Witt was founded on love because after all we are affiliated with the Lutheran church. Their doctrine and Christianity require us to love not just ourselves, but also our neighbor even when they don’t need love. Chances are that is when they need love most.
R&B singer Tina Turner wrote a song long ago that said “What’s love got to do with it?” The answer to her song and question is that it has everything to do with it!