In Touch With What’s Love Got To Do With It

By Betty Miller Buttram
FWIS Contributing Writer

I recently heard a pastor deliver a message to the church parishioners about the one thing that should be constantly growing in our lives which is our definition of what it means to love others and our capacity to do so.

The pastor’s sermon title was “What’s Love Got to Do with It” and the scripture came from 1 John 4:19-21, "So you see, our love for him comes as a result of his loving us first. If anyone says, “I love God,” but keeps on hating his brother, he is a liar; for if he doesn’t love his brother who is right there in front of him, how can he love God whom he has never seen. And God himself has said that one must love not only God, but his brother, too.”

The pastor did not mention the conflicts that are going on around the world and in our nation. However, he remarked that people should be cautious of blind allegiance to a position while ignoring the rocks that come along with it. I interpreted that statement to mean that the rocks that person is bringing with him are his sins. The pastor also stated that the greatest hypocrisy of some Christians is elevating someone’s sin while ignoring their own. Again, we have our own rocks weighing us down.

These major conflicts that are currently reaping havoc here at home and in other parts of the world are becoming burdensome and concerning; we should not be without faith, hope and love.

Love has everything to do with just being alive and how that emotion can be shown to others.

There is a 93-year-old African American widowed woman who lives in South Carolina. Her name is Josephine Wright, and she has been living at her home on Hilton Head for the past 30 years after she and her husband retired from their jobs in New York City. This inherited property has been passed down since the end of the Civil War to generations of the Wright family. Her husband died in 1998; but she is not alone because it is a favorite gathering spot among her 16 children, 40 grandchildren, 54 great-grandchildren and 16 great-great-grandchildren. Last year a developer tried to push her off her prized property. The company has bought all the property surrounding her 1.8-acre property and is developing a 147-home subdivision in the area. They offered her $39,000 for her property and she refused the offer.

In February of this year, the developer sued Wright arguing that her screened-in porch, a shed, and a satellite dish were encroaching on the company’s property, causing a nuisance, lowering property values, and delaying their development plans. She countersued the company with the help of a civil rights attorney. The company continued to do work around their property and even on her property. They cut down trees and kicked up dust that covered her car and house; car tires were flattened, a snake was hung from a window, and a tree fell on her home in September leaving two holes in her roof.

The lawsuits and the press coverage caught the attention of some famous celebrities. Tyler Perry befriended Mrs. Wright with his kindness and generosity. He is building a new house to replace Wright’s current home and the construction crews are expected to break ground in a few weeks.

A GoFundMe was started in May by Wright’s granddaughter to help her grandmother fight off the developers. Recording artists Fantasia and Meek Mill have posted their support. Dallas Mavericks star guard Kyrie Irving donated $40,000 to the GoFundMe and Snoop Dogg contributed $10,000.

There are loving neighbors out there who will show up when needed.

1 Corinthians 13:13 There are three things that remain—faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.