I expect there will many of our readers who will be puzzled that the article headlined “Love” and written by our “Special Correspondent” Paul, is our top story.

Actually, it should have been our top story yesterday (19) as the article was the subscribed reading for Wed. 19^th Sep. in the Episcopalian Weekday Eucharistic Lectionary – I Cor 12:31 – 13:13. It was written by Paul around 56 AD and delivered as a letter to a Christian community in Corinth, a seaport in Greece. The translated version we used is taken from “The Revised English Bible”.

The passage is often used at Christian weddings because of the subject –“love”.

Isn’t it time we reminded ourselves of “love” because it seems to be missing in the world today? It was missing in the world of yesterday, too.

I am not a follower of the prophet Muhammad. All I know of him is what I have read.

“A leader from Mecca who unified Arabia into a single religious polity under Islam. He is believed by Muslims and Bahá’ís to be a messenger and prophet of God, and by most Muslims as the last prophet sent by God for mankind. Muhammad is generally considered to be the founder of Islam, although this is a view not shared by Muslims. Muslims consider him to be the restorer of an uncorrupted original monotheistic faith of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets.

“Born in about 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca he was orphaned at an early age and brought up under the care of his uncle Abu Talib. He later worked mostly as a merchant, as well as a shepherd, and was first married by age 25. Being in the habit of periodically retreating to a cave in the surrounding mountains for several nights of seclusion and prayer, he later reported that it was there, at age 40 that he received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that “God is One“, that complete “surrender” to Him (lit. islām) is the only way acceptable to God, and that he himself was a prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein as other Islamic prophets.”

Note: “Jesus”.

From Wikipedia.

Nothing I have read makes me believe anything other than that Muhammad would be appalled at what is going on by his professed followers in their violent protests of insane rage at an anti-Muslim film. Protests are one thing but the attacks and lives lost by innocent people is insanity. Obviously the word “love” is sadly missing and even the statements made by President Obama, who condemned the movie (though confessing he had not viewed it*), did not mention the word.

There is no “love” in any of the advertising campaigns presently being blasted out on American media in run up to the US Presidential elections.

The word ‘love” hardly shows up in any news bulletins and that is true of this media house reports, too.

So where has the love gone?

It seems we have to have a natural disaster for love to be shown and/or reported.

So, LOVE is featured on our front parade today and in my Editorial. I am proud we have had the services of our Special Correspondent, Paul, to help remind us as he did over 1,950 years ago.

(*Obama is not alone – what percentage of the protesters actually viewed the movie?)