In the musical, “Moulin Rouge”,(https://youtu.be/5iC7_1e0IBI ) one of the title characters recites a phrase that has stuck with me ever since I first saw the show. “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return.” The line is a lyric penned in 1947 by Eden Ahbez and sung by Nat King Cole in 1948. Since that is a few years before my time, I embrace the line as I recall its impact on me when I first heard it. On the surface the lyric seems a simple concept, but like so many moments, it’s when we peel back some of the layers that we find the heart that beats within its message.
The line states that there is no greater lesson or concept we will ever learn than loving and being loved in return. Having a vocation that leans toward the helping fields, I can accept and embrace the loving part. As I age, the call to love others is not necessarily easier, but maybe more of a way of life. I have long-held the philosophy that all people have a basic need, “to be seen, to be heard, and to be loved.” That, at the bottom of every misunderstanding or fight is the need for someone to see us, hear us, and love us. I can link every action and every inaction to that, and it challenges me to actively and intentionally love others. This means that even when I disagree the person, I am called to see them, hear them, and to love them. Learning that, picking it up daily, and practicing that grants a certain amount of freedom-I don’t have to analyze the ultimate worth of a person in order to love them. I get a pass on having to analyze their worth, but I don’t get a pass on practicing that love. That, for me, is a daily lesson in humility.
The second part of the line is what has captivated me lately, “to be loved in return.” Wow, that accepting love angle can be hard, really hard. I can agree that all people are worthy of love, but to put myself in that category is sometimes a baffling concept that doesn’t always feel the greatest. As I sit here, pondering that concept, Oliver, my new BFF pug, just looked at me with the squinty-eyed “I love you mom,” look, sighed, and placed his head on my knee. I smile. He is secure knowing that he is cared for and safe. I smile because for him, loving me unconditionally IS that easy. It matters not that I don’t have my make up fully intact, my hair is not perfectly styled, nor do I have all the questions of the universe solved. He is, in this time and space, an example of the complete and unconditional love a Creator has for each of us-no matter the situation. I don’t have to do a thing for this creature to love me, I have only to embrace it, free of the limits that my mind would place on it. That is the call of the second half of the line. To be loved in return is a gift, a glorious gift, that, when we let it penetrate our analytical veneers brings an outpouring of understanding others. When I can let that in, I can see how others’ actions and words that I would normally question are given out of love for me and my well being. A hug, an invitation to coffee with colleagues, a guided direction, or an inquiring question are given as an example of incredible love. Just as all people are worthy of being loved, we too, are worthy of receiving love in return.
There you have it, wrapped in the month of candy hearts, smooshy hallmark cards and elaborate Valentine’s Day boxes, is a call to embrace others and let them embrace us-unconditionally. Today, I can lean into that. I’ll save the “just” part of the equation for another day!
cindythea
divinewrites 