Love is more than
wanting to be with someone, more than caring deeply for some specific
individuals. It is more than selfless devotion to a lover or a child.
There is love in fast friendship, love in care for anyone. There is
love throughout life, if we allow there to be.
There is a deep
and abiding love that goes beyond our personal relationships. There
is a drive to relieve suffering, to promote joy and happiness and
fulfilment, to help people be the best they can be, in whatever way
is important to them. In protecting and nurturing, in teaching and
guiding, in giving and helping.
This love does
not guarantee right action. It is at the heart of patriotism, and the
willingness to defend one's country and one's fellows even in hostile
action. It is at the heart of the desire to prevent those who have
shown their ability to do harm from doing so again, even when this is
taken to extreme forms of judicial punishment. It is at the heart of
the will to drive those we care for to do the best they can, even
when we drive them too far.
Yet love can
temper justice, and give life to wisdom. It can uphold us and support
us, drive us and enfold us.
This love, that
we can feel for all people, all things, is an essence of the Divine,
but it is not the only such essence. We must learn to feel it, to
know it, to let it permeate our being – but not to the exclusion of
all else. There is more to divine obedience than love, but without
love there can be no divine obedience.
Written July 2018