Be Love
Linda Van Leuven, Ph.D.
Miranda & William’s Wedding
June 21, 2015
It is a great honor to be here today. I was Miranda’s Women’s Studies and Sociology Professor at UCLA, which makes me the obvious choice to speak at her wedding to William…
As we celebrate the life they have created, and are creating – with new family, the merging of generations (with the best flower girl ever), and sharing with all of us today – they wanted me to speak of Love.
But what could I say that is more than “Look at them.” “Feel them.”
There it is, folks: Love, so simple and palpable.
What could I possibly add? But they insisted.
So I asked them for Requests: William wanted something philosophical; Miranda, something arousing and encouraging. Above all, they wanted whatever I say to be a Gift for all of you – because Love is Generous.
So I looked for clues: the envelope for their Wedding Invitation was stamped with “All you need is Love.”
But what is Love? The songwriters aren’t helping, and have nothing on them. So I asked Miranda and William to write an Intention. They sent a page of sensations, and moments, and joy; stories of a unified vision — the importance of Family, and the word “Giggles.”
There were no formal guidelines, or time limit.
Just the Instructions: “Let what we have written about us inspire you. I trust you.”
(Ah, yes, that is Love)
“Be Inspired, and Trust.”
These are Instructions for a Talk at a Wedding, for Partnership, and for Life.
So let’s see what happens (This is Love’s Way).
Love is Inspiring:
To in-spire is to breath in—to be breathed in by something greater than your small and separate sense of self. In fact, Love calls into question any notion of a small or separate self.
Love, like the Breath, is in the flow: It requires space, and movement – will alter and sustain you. This Dance is central for Miranda and William.
And while In-Spiration asks us to Receive and be Open, both Love and The Breath ask us to also Pour ourselves out. Not Cling or Hold onto. But instead, to Let Go. Exhale. Ex-pire, with no end in sight. Just another beginning. Another In-Spiration.
Which signals the Circle and Cycle of Creation. As when two in wholeness come together, their relationship creates a third entity, greater than the alleged parts.
So when we wonder where Inspiration is – what or where Love is — Take a deep breath.
Love is an Invitation: One that says, “All is Welcome Here.” Which includes things that are often not welcome here. Which challenges us to be more compassionate, to others and ourselves.
Love is Radical & Transformative – A serious reality check into what we believe. For example:
Love asks us to rethink our ideas of scarcity; our ideas of limitation. To see that questions of worthiness are passé.
In fact, one of Miranda’s favorite teachings from class was: “I am enough.” This is particularly important in Partnership.
I am enough.
I have enough to give.
I am Whole, and also Evolving.
I can let Life and Love in, and let it change me.
I can Give Freely.
When we start to think Bigger, we see that Love is the Model for a New Economy.
So what is Love?
Love is not a person, place, or thing.
Love is a State of Being; A Posture, A Stance, An Orientation to Life. It is primordial Life force energy, creative potential, and All That Is. It is also an Identity — one that trumps all political and social concerns, boundaries of separation, and egos. Love is the Bottom Line of Humanity.
Who Am I? Love is the Answer.
So when someone asks you who, or what you are, say:
“I am Love, though I go by many Names.” Like Heart and Joy, Plant and Animal; Dog, Bear, Dolphin; Water, Air, This Body, and Mother Earth. Though I go by the names Miranda and William (and each of your names). “Love is Who and What I Am.”
And how would understanding Love as an Orientation to Life shift things? It will help you take a bigger perspective on any situation, find yourself in others, be discerning and kind. If you want things to be different in life, simply Be the Change And the Love you want to see in the World.
This might seem so esoteric, and ephemeral. It is. And it is also simple and palpable. Because Love is a Feeling State of Awareness. When you meet Love, you know it, as Miranda and William did. There were all the synchronicities. Their lives had lined up, and brought them to the place where Love met Itself – on Facebook. And when they met in the flesh, they shared a deep knowing — the many lifetimes — and a first kiss that continues to this day. But this is not just about them: They meld families, proving that Love is Dimensional and Expansive.
So today, we celebrate Love, in and through them —
May we be inspired, and trust.
May we step forward from this place, and also Be Still –
allowing ourselves to rest, and bask in all that we are.
Indeed, We Are That which we Seek.
May we all Be Love.
© 2015 Linda Van Leuven. All Rights Reserved.
www.lindavanleuven.com