Love

One thing that I feel can be corrected and would greatly help mankind, would be to truly understand Love.

I enjoy my fair share of romantic movies especially comedies put out by Hollywood and independent filmmakers. But recently I have found that the idea of love that is being portrayed is incorrect and no wonder we have relationships that aren’t lasting or satisfying.

I recently realized that there is no such thing as soul mates or “the one”. This concept comes from the view that we are each incomplete and that there is someone else (male or female) which completes us. This idea is false and is a lie about our Creator. God created all of his ideas complete and whole. And relationships are simply an opportunity to express our divine nature. Relationships are very important because they give us an outlet to express love, patience, humility, unselfishness, and other lovely qualities. And they show us ways that we can grow.

The idea of “the one” signifies that God’s creation isn’t complete. We learn in the first chapter of Genesis that God made his creation in his own image & likeness, good and complete. And in the book of I John we learn that God is Love.

Studies have shown that they way we think about God shapes who we are. My study of the Bible and the teachings of Christian Science has shown me that God is Love and unchanging Goodness. That the divine Will is perfect and blesses all of his creation. And that God is infinite wisdom. This would show that God is the one who relates & associates us. And this relating has to be balanced and harmonious. I have found that companionship is a more spiritual way to think about relationships. It is right that we companion with others because that is part of God’s grace and goodness. But we are by no means dependant on these relationships for our happiness. Each of us is whole and complete and is totally responsible for how we feel.

I attended a “Celebrate Marriage” weekend recently in which the speaker pointed out that the purpose of marriage is to make us holy, not to make us happy. When we are looking to the other person to make us happy than there is going to be a time when that runs out. Are we then to move onto the next thing that will make us happy for a short period of time?

I think marriage is the expression of our relationship to God. Unchanging, unconditional love and support is the goal for humanity. This is God’s nature and we are striving to put off the human and put on the divine more and more in daily life. This is the role of true Christianity. Jesus said of his followers that they would be known by the love they express to eachother – that brotherly love and kindness.
So love isn’t a person. Love is God itself. And Love is manifested through our relationships with our parents, our children, brother, sister, friend, boss, mentor, boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse. It is all the One Love manifested in infinite ways.

So we never have to feel incomplete or absent from Love because Love is ever-present. And all we need to do is start expressing it in this moment and we will immediately get a fuller sense of happiness, joy, and life. “For Love alone is Life” (from a poem by Mary Baker Eddy). When we feel love and express we just feel so full of Life (which is also God but that’s another discussion). So we can start right now by saying hi to the person next to you or smiling at a cashier. This is living in God’s kingdom here and now - by the genuine dwelling in and expressing of Love.