LOVE – A SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY
We buried President Jimmy Carter last month. He was a man of integrity. A man of character. A man who lived his life as an example of Jesus’ commandments to “Love thy neighbor as thyself “ (Matthew 22:39 – King James Version) and “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7:12 – New International Version).
Love: a powerful word, and probably one of the most misunderstood, or mis-communicated, words in the English language (next to God). Everyone relates to the word love from their own experience, as well as from the descriptions of what it should feel like!
The Christian church has turned to the Greek language to better describe the many faces or experience of love.
• Eros, referring to romantic or sexual love. This word is not used in the Bible.
• Storge, referring to familial love like that of a mother to her baby, siblings for each other.
• Philia, referring to friendship and comradery, often translated as friend.
• Agape, referring to God’s love that He has for the world, and which Christians are encouraged to emulate. (From Gotquestons.org)
While it is nice to have some kind of definition for the various faces of love, I don’t feel that they communicate the action of loving thy neighbor as thy self. Love in all of its various faces, is an experience, and as such, can be difficult to adequately describe.
I experience love, Universal Love, uncompromising love, neighborly love, even personal love very differently. I could replace the word love with terms such as honor, respect, recognition, acceptance, acknowledgment, inclusion. These are all descriptions of the feeling one experiences with the thought of, or in the presence of, another; an experience which opens the heat and brings a sense of peace, rightness, connection, even compassion: Love.
When we honor or respect someone else’s life path without judgment, we love them, especially when said life path is fraught with difficulties, addictions, devastating depression, etc. To accept this human being without judgment, to refrain from attempting to change them, and instead to simply be willing to be there with them, that, in my opinion, is truly love.
To recognize, acknowledge and honor the soul-deep light in each person as a reflection of your own soul-deep light is love.
I know of two phrases from other cultures which hint at this true love.
Namasté: I translate it as “the spirit/soul In me recognizes and embraces the spirit/soul in you.”
Breathetogetheryoda.com describes the action of Namasté in this way: “Namasté is literally translated as ‘I bow to ou.’ The gesture represents the belief that there is a divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart center. The palms together in front of the heart or brow is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another. It also has the underlying understanding that, beneath the outer lays that make us look different to one another, we are made of the same stuff.”
Aloha: It literally translates as “the presence of breath” or “breath of life” (www.robertshawaii.com)
The magic of recognition, acknowledgment, and acceptance of others is that we become recognized, acknowledged and accepted by others and ourselves. A true self-fulling prophecy! We love and are loved! What could be better than that?
Blessings,
Charlotte
Edited by Monique Huenergardt of MoReadsYou.com