Aspects of Love

I am often asked the question, “What does love mean to you?”
 
I believe that Love with a capital L is our true spiritual nature, the life and essence of who and what we are. Yet we also have human experiences too, as we live our earthly lives. Here are some of my thoughts on just a few of the layers of love …

Love – Yes, it is our true spiritual nature, but I would also say to express Love in our human experience, we need to balance it with divine wisdom, guidance, and discernment. Love without wisdom and discernment (right judgement) can be like a ship without a sail. It may flounder in the doldrums without the breeze of “wisdom” to push it along. Then, when right judgement is added, the ship will be pushed along in the right direction …. For me, this is God in action working in and through us. How blessed we are.
 
Love can be interpreted in many different ways.
An impermanent love is when we relate love to things that give us instant pleasure and perhaps say; “Oh, I loved that film, or I love chocolate, or I love that author, etc.” All worldly things are impermanent and changing. We can and often do, change our minds about them.
 
Then we have romantic love, which can be very consuming and passionate for a while, but will over time either disappear or change. We may decide that the fire has gone out. Alternatively, we don’t really like or have anything in common with that person anymore and we move on. Or, it can turn into something deeper, and the relationship becomes one of companionship and comfort maybe; still love, but more permanent.
 
And, coming up another level – unconditional love, which is love that endures and is permanent. The obvious example being the love of a parent for their children. The children may go off the rails, or even do bad things, but I would say that in our hearts we still, and will, always love them, whether they are small children or fully grown large adult children!
 
Finally, I come to the constant, eternal and enduring Love with a capital L, which is God, Spirit, Life, All that is, and many other names, or even no name. It is the core of our beingness, the animating loving energy, the Presence, the Peace, that surpasses all understanding. This to me is who and what we are: Pure Love.
 
I can’t talk or begin to understand the limitlessness of God, Life, because I’m not clever enough and I haven’t got the words, but at the core of my being I just know, that God is Good, and in my quiet times I feel my oneness in God….
 
Yes, we express from our human nature. However, we can also express from our indwelling Truth, which is Love. For we are one in God, God is Love, and we are made for goodness. This is our Truth. We cannot be separate from our truth, however much our humanity likes to think otherwise.
 
These are my thoughts up to now, but I do acknowledge that as my spiritual understanding unfolds they may be different, next week, next month, next year or even tomorrow!
Thank you.
 
Carran Stephens
Leader, Unity Birmingham