Love is sometimes an elusive and fleeting notion for people, and more often than not it is also easily misunderstood and often mistaken for what it is not – something that originates in us.
What objective truths do we really know about the concept of Love? Without delving into a deeper theological discussion today, Love is simply known to be a gift that the Creator, God, has freely given to His creation - to both mankind and to the entire created world all around us. We don’t really know if the animal and plant world understand the concept of Love as we do, but ”Love” is easily evident and on display throughout the animal kingdom in the bond between animals of both sexes and to their offspring. An Emperor penguin protecting a single egg, and later on the chick itself, throughout the cold, dark, Antarctic winter while waiting for their mate to return with food for the offspring, is such an example of the dedication and “Love” animals display to each other all around us every day.
We also know, since God “so Loved the world,” He didn’t place any limits on the extent and duration of His gift to us – it is Unconditional. From this understanding we can deduce with confidence and through observation, that Love is a never ending supply that is always available to us – without exception. What we don’t know, but can only imagine from our perspective in the created world, is to what extent is Love a “sustaining force” that binds the entire universe together? It is in my opinion, that Love is as important to the functioning of the universe as is gravity, magnetism, light, charged atomic particles and energy are. In fact, it may just be that Love is the universal binding ingredient that holds all of creation together. Without Love, life as we know it creases to exist.
Considering that Love is a gift from God in both an unending supply and immeasurable intensity, then we know for a fact that we can never run out of Love. There is no “spigot” that restricts the flow and output of Love, except for the desires of our Hearts. If we restrict access to our Heart, the flow of Love that passes through it is also restricted, causing Love to “dam up” behind us as it continues to flow in an unending supply from God, willing but unable to flow through us. Imagine the change we would see in the created world around us if there was an unlimited access and output of Love flowing through billions of Hearts continuously throughout the world in unison? We could in our own way define that as “Heaven on Earth.”
If our Hearts are “open” and the supply of Love is unending and immeasurable, what else do we need to do to welcome Love into the created world all around us? Since Love is unconditionally given to us by God, and sustained by God as well; Love requires no action on our part but to provide an open Heart through which it can pass. That is our single and only “requirement” concerning Love – to be a willing conduit through which it can pass. Where does it pass to, one might ask? To other Hearts and throughout the entire world in a never ending and continuous flowing stream through which it connects, sustains and nurtures all of God’s creation.
If Love is unconditional, unending, and without limits in any measurable way, shape or form, is there anything else we need to do besides providing access to an “open” Heart for it to pass through? No. By providing an “open” Heart for Love, you essentially “believe” in Love, agree to be available to Love, and agree to pass Love along to others and to all of creation. Your Heart becomes a conduit in the never ending flow of Love throughout the world. To restrict access of Love to your Heart, is to reduce the flow and intensity of Love not only through you but in fact all around you as well. We all need to both receive Love and to allow Love to pass along through us. Love can’t be stored up or held in reserve, it only functions properly when it is continuously on the move between Hearts, sustaining and nurturing all of creation in the process.
Love is both unconditionally received and given in this world. It requires nothing but an “open” Heart for both access and output. It depends on nothing else on our part. We give it without conditions, we receive it without conditions, and it flows through us without making any demands on us and nurtures and sustains us without conditions. It is essential to our very core being and existence, to our Soul - just as we need water, sustenance and shelter for the body. It requires nothing in return and makes no demands. Just as it is given to us by God, it returns through all of us back to God, its source. Love is a never ending flow from God through us and returning again to God from which Love originates. Love is of God, from God and unconditionally given to us by God. To Love is to know God; to receive Love is to feel God; and to pass Love along is to participate with God in sustaining and nurturing all of His creation.
