I was recently leading a group discussion at The 1917 Clinic around the theme of love with the following two questions:
“What does it mean to love with your whole heart? How does this kind of love change you, others?”
I asked the same questions of my “Facebook Friends” and I wanted to share some of their responses with you.
Sharon Ryder, a Christian Conservative Mom/Wife who is a Republican wrote:
“That’s unconditional love. It’s a love without boundaries, giving, not self motivated, not dependent on reward or recognition. To love no matter what the consequence, a love that endures all. And that kind of love overflows into every part of your life, into every part of your being.”
Harry Wingfield, a friend who is gay, HIV positive, and in a 21-year relationship with his partner stated:
“For me, it isn’t about emotion. It’s about a deep inner knowing, and acceptance of what is and can not change. It’s the love I feel for family—the family of my birth and the family that life has given me. It’s being a part of a connection that is beyond questioning. It brings safety, and security, and hope.”
Rebecca England, a single woman who is in a relationship and describes herself as a Liberal Democrat commented:
“To love with your whole heart means you don’t make a little compartment in yourself for your loved one and keep them out of the rest of your life. You just take the Nestea plunge and get wet—let them know all of you, and accept knowing all of them. It changes you and others in the same way that blue and yellow make green. Also, this is my thought right now—when you choose something, you take everyone who loves you into that experience. Like addiction, breaking the law, finding serenity through prayer—your loved ones all get a little piece of those choices.”
Steve Shanks, a married man who describes himself as a “Progressive, Episcopalian, and then some” added from “The More You Tear Off, The More You Keep” by Andrei Voznesensky and translated by William Jay Smith and Vera Dunham:
Give all at once,
Make gifts of yourself and forgiving;
Having but one ruble,
Give someone a thousand!
The water in living wells
Does not stagnate;
The more you tear from your heart
The more of it you keep.
A mother with many children
Takes in an orphan;
The more you tear from your heart
The more you keep.
You who worry so about people,
Give away your earnings;
You will become younger
And your burden will lighten.
Immortality, dear Faustus,
Is idiotically simple—
The more you tear from your heart,
The longer you will live.
But a beggar’s house cannot burn;
Trouble and triumph are brothers;
The more you tear from your hear,
The more that heart will hurt.
There is one lesson we are to learn in life, and only one: It is all about love. Loving our Creator and loving our human family. If we can learn this truth, we have discovered our purpose on this earth.
Thank you Facebook Friends.
What are your thoughts? Please comment below.