by Stevie Wonder https://open.spotify.com/track/39sdlCugrGBsoC4Flos0HO

Soul Song #1: Love’s in Need Of Love Today

Soul Song #1: Love’s in Need Of Love Today (updated January 2021)

CDDoula’s Message:

My first Soul Song selection, Love’s in Need of Love Today (from Stevie Wonder’s album “Songs in the Key of Life”), was released in September 1976, more than 44 years ago!  I do not remember the first time I really heard the song and paid attention to the lyrics, but it was most likely during my college years or in the years closely following. I had a few friends who were seriously into music and had enviable album collections. They were always willing to invite you in for a private audience of their deejaying abilities, while highlighting their favorite musical masterpieces with ‘must-hear’ lyrics. I do, however, recall wondering, “How in the world could ‘love be in need of love’?” Well, all these years later, and with quite a bit of life experience under my belt, I can easily say that this song has been on my Top Ten Song List since those early years.

“Love’s in need of love today; don’t delay,

send yours in right away.”

Stevie Wonder’s selection of “Love’s in Need of Love Today” as the opening song for the album could not have been more fitting. This song could be considered a ‘call to action’ message, similar to what a preacher delivers to the congregation each week – a sermon on love, a call to each member of the gathered congregation (or listening from their car or home during COVID-19) to open the doors of their heart sanctuary. It is a call for love, a call to remember love, and a call to return to love. Even the soulful sound of the background singers evokes the feeling of a church choir and makes you want to just close your eyes and sway.

“Hate’s going around breaking many hearts.

Stop it please, before it’s gone too far.”

Here we are now in September 2020 where a pandemic has killed more than 200,000 in the United Sates alone (January 2021 update: More than 350,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, and more than 20 million Americans have been infected), and shows no signs of ending; the bigger story, however, is the hatred and violence that has surfaced and been promoted, encouraged, and fed in America. The images have been captured in news clips, social media videos, and posts, and in the words and actions of political leaders. There is a shocking lack of compassion for others who are at-risk, sick, frightened, or mourning.

“The concept I had in mind was that for love to be effective, it has to be fed. Love by itself is hollow.”     

– Stevie Wonder

The same way that hate has been fed through the repeated reporting, viewing, and taking in of the images of hatred and evil, so must LOVE be fed. What I finally realized was that the more I focused on the images of hatred, the more I was feeding its growth inside of me. I had to turn my focus to the answer, the solution I hope to see, – which is LOVE. I came up and out of that garbage can that I had dug to the bottom of, in search of answers, and turned my focus toward seeing the positive, loving, Good Trouble actions people were taking to combat the hatred. To save myself I returned to my journaling, meditation, and music; I also spent time in nature, sang, and even danced a little.  All of this with the desire to lift my energy, my vibrational frequency, to a higher place – the place of LOVE’s vibration. I joined online groups (via social media and video conferencing apps) with similar interests – meditation, healing, ancestral reverence, and positive-minded discussion groups – to keep me in a positive space, because meeting hate with hate is never the answer.

“The force of evil plans to make you its possession

and it will if we let it…”

“We all must take precautionary measures,

if joy and peace you treasure.”

Just as with the images we see, the energy and power of the words we use can be destructive, or uplifting and encouraging. Let’s make a conscious effort to choose words and actions that contribute to uplifting, encouraging, teaching, and healing each other rather than belittling, hurting, harming, and destroying.  It is a simple request, but sometimes not so easy  – as we have all become accustomed to the sense of anonymity that distances us from the impact of our written words on social media;  however, it carries over into our spoken words – especially within the safety of a group of “friends” who support and “like” our comments. I have found myself reflecting on my own comments, made in jest or without thought, on social media and returning to delete them.  Words, like everything in creation, carry an energy vibration and spoken words create. So, speak your truth with much thought given to how you say it and with carefully chosen words.

Finally, if the Source of ALL/EVERYTHING is LOVE, and we each are created from and in the image of the Source – well, that makes us – each one – LOVE. Love beings, who are here trying to remember who and what we are – first, and then radiating that love frequency in a way that awakens the same memories in others – the memory of who and what they truly are.  Impact the world by holding space for LOVE. Teach love, share love, and choose love; remember love and you can change the world we are seeing around us. “There is no poverty of love.” We are all here to heal and be healed. This is a truth that we all need to remember and the message we need to teach to a world dying (sometimes killing themselves) because they believe their source of love is gone or is no longer available to them. Too many people are “looking for LOVE (their SOURCE) in all the wrong places”

L – O – V – E 

“Just give the world LOVE!”

Spirit’s Message:

Beloved, the sentiment is beautiful in that it reaches out to humanity asking and pleading that love and kindness be considered in all aspects of your lives; consider that love is the answer and the solution to all the world’s problems. There is an increasing view on the planet of  “not enough” or poverty in areas where this is not truth. There is enough food, there is enough water — what is lacking is love; a spirit of love would allow a solution to be found and realized that would heal all the areas of perceived lack. However, the way mankind operates in everything as a competition, again – prevents people from coming together in love to find real solutions that allow them to love those in need in a way that is palpable. “Love IS in need of love” and you hold the key to helping people see and remember that there is no lack of love only a poverty and refusal in people’s willingness to choose love. And so, you have it – love is indeed in need of love; something that is hard to conceive – but, yes – people need to be taught and reminded of the power of love and of their unlimited access to love – “Don’t delay, send yours in right away. Hate is going around breaking many hearts. Stop it please before it’s gone too far.”

In what ways could you use your capacity to love, to motivate action, giving, and healing in areas of need?

No need to think of a huge effort, the smallest of steps can generate that ripple effect in the consciousness of the world. Step by step we can build a world where love (for mankind, for nature, for the earth) is the priority, rather than financial gain and competition. It is a simple goal, though perhaps not an easy shift to make – in our thinking first, and then in our behavior. Choosing love can revitalize the planet and change the world we live in, transitioning us into another realm of understanding of who and what we truly are. ©