When in his presence, his love surrounding me, I felt his enormous spirit and will never forget the sweetness of his voice. His message still rings in my ears and is ever so clear: "Above all else, love one another..."
“Love one another,” I thought. “Can it be that simple?” I wondered. Loving whomever and whatever was easy within the presence of Jesus where I felt love everywhere! Heaven holds nothing but love, God is love, Jesus is love, the ability to love was no challenge at all.
Back on earth, I found loving everyone is not so simple—not so easy! The love I had for everyone and felt back from them, was based upon conditions that made me feel vulnerable. Loving with all your heart can hurt, and hurt deeply. During a lifetime, loved ones are lost to death, to illness, and even to others when love wanes and partners whom committed to unending love find somebody new to love.
I saw that—to love and to be loved—is one of the strongest driving forces within mankind. Either love or the lack of love compels and governs at nearly every turn. Almost every expression, every thought and deed, seek love and acceptance of that love. We are challenged by this never ending need and are often brought to despair because of it.
A need to find love can take us on a journey to discover it in all the wrong places. How many songs are written about those places and people so wrong for us? Yet, we are compelled by the internal need and drive to discover and to experience love, an emotion that almost overwhelms to keep seeking.
I eventually learned how it is that we are to learn to love above all else: God is pure love! He is the ultimate of love and he desires us to grow to become as he is. Learning to love is a selfless act that comes with self-giving, and is the ultimate sacrifice of one’s own being. While it is risky business for some, it is our ultimate goal---our greatest challenge on earth--- and what we came here to learn.
As God’s creation, our spirits loved freely and unconditionally when with him. In the presence of God, love comes easily because we draw our ability to love from him. For higher growth, God sent us to earth to acquire this attribute for ourselves.
To become beings of greater love—our understanding of love had to internalize–to become a part of our soul. This can only happen through experience. On Earth, what love we gain—is tested to the nth degree! By the time we think we have learned it all, something develops to further our testing—and the tests are almost always through painful trials. As we learn what true love is not, we will learn what pure love is.
To love, in the purest way, we must first recognize and develop the love already within us. Every fiber of our soul was created by God to love and to generate more love that we might become pure love; the purest energy that both creates and heals. Through mistakes and through misuse of love we will come to learn what is pure about love. We can work through our physicality bound by ego—that selfish pursuit of physical love—and face even the great challenges brought by those in quest to find love for themselves when abusing that of others. Even those whom we love the most and become hurt by can bring our greatest growth.
What a blessing to know that within you lies the purest of love in embryo, that, it is without beginning or end. Uncover it by opening to love’s possibility and trusting its ultimate purpose. Soon, you will feel its completeness and discover that love simply just "is."
My love and prayers are with all, especially as you meet your trials and challenges— stay the course our goal is worth it! God works in mysterious ways, he gives us a taste of his purest love and blessings, then sees what happens to our faith when it is challenged.
Betty J. Eadie
