What if love was the whole purpose?
What if love was the only commandment that mattered,
the single reason we draw breath,
the divine intention behind our existence?
❤️
What if every doctrine, every rule, every ritual
was meant only to lead us back
to this one truth,
that we are here to love one another,
nothing more,
nothing less,
nothing else?
❤️
Then how much have we failed?
How much time have we wasted
building walls,
creating divisions where none were meant to exist,
fighting over details
while missing the entire point?
❤️
What if the test was always simple?
Did you love?
Did you show compassion?
Did you lift up those who stumbled?
Did you see the sacred
in every soul you met?
❤️
All our theologies,
all our philosophies,
all our arguments about who is right and who is wrong,
what if they were distractions from the obvious,
complications of what should have been
beautifully clear?
❤️
Love one another.
Could it be that simple?
Could the meaning of everything
reduce to kindness,
to seeing ourselves in strangers’ eyes,
to treating every person
as precious and worthy?
❤️
What if when we stand before eternity,
the only question asked
is how well we loved,
how generously we gave our hearts,
how deeply we honored
humanity in others?
❤️
Then let us begin again,
here,
now.
Let us strip away everything
that obscures this truth.
Let us make love
our single practice.
Let us fulfill the purpose
for which we were made.
About the Creator
Tim Carmichael
Tim is an Appalachian poet and cookbook author. He writes about rural life, family, and the places he grew up around. His poetry and essays have appeared in Bloodroot and Coal Dust, his latest book.
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Comments (4)
I feel reborn. And that's what good poetry can do.
Tim, that is exactly what it it - not what if. All the prophets across religions said to love. A long time ago, a man told a story of people at his dying mother's bedside. They were telling her they loved her. He said to her, "I love you." Her final words, he relayed to us while crying, were "That's all there is." Great job, love this, wish it could be embedded for all to feel or see each day.
Amen to this. Loved this so much!
Very well said, my friend. Sadly, many have missed or never picked up on the lessons love has to offer. They flunked that course with a big, fat 'F' ! Hope this gets a TS so more eyes can read it.