THE SOUL'S MIRROR
Reflections on the Fullness of Life

 

LOVE

 

Even if you suppose that love is blind,
you must remember that it can still feel.

It is not unusual for my youngest child Linnea to plant on my lips a soft kiss accompanied by "I love you, Daddy". She does this with her brothers and sister and with her mom. I was surprised, however, the other day when, as we two sat at the dining table, she stood up in her chair, pushed her face next to mine, and said, "You love me, Daddy." It was not a question but clearly a statement of fact. How my three-year-old understood it is remarkable. I do not often express it in words.

 

Upon reflection:

Love is the very essence of my being. It emanates from my soul and connects me with the eternal universe. When I allow it to do so, love infiltrates my mind. It encompasses my thoughts and feelings. It being the foundation of thoughts and emotions, I can find my identity in love. Love then is manifested in my physical being. It is through my look, my touch, my speech, and my actions that love finds expression.

Because it is the essence of me, love need not be taught. It is understood and felt by a newborn. It is experienced and expressed by a young child. Only as we mature to adulthood do we lose the capacity to feel and express love without reserve. My reluctance to let love exist in its free-flowing state results from my confusion of love with physical desire. From association of love with unfortunate experiences. From misidentifying love with pain.

Love lives forever and is, therefore, life. I can ignore it, suppress it, hide it, abuse it, misuse it, attempt to destroy it, think without it, act without it, but I cannot kill it. Its inclination is to flow unbounded and unending. I, however, must permit it to do so.

It is through love that I connect and interact with the universe and with my immediate surroundings. Without love I am only another physical mass in the world. Through love I am one with it. I can only truly know another when introduced by love. Love permits me to understand the thoughts and emotions of another. Even the real beauty of nature and the things she produces can be fully appreciated and enjoyed only in love.

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Reflect also on: HATRED, JOY, LOVING, SOUL.

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