Article November 17, 1980 Issue

Discovering universal Love heals disappointment

KATHLEEN ANN MARTS

What comfort we can find in the truth that God, not finite personality, is the originator of love. As God's offspring, man is forever held in this immeasurable love. When several close friends in college became engaged, I found myself struggling with the longing to be wanted and considered special by someone. Consequently, I began feeling estranged from my male friends. One, in particular, with whom I had been very good friends, stopped seeing me when he sensed I was pursuing him.

I saw right away the need to correct fear and bitterness—fear of what was happening, of losing a close friend; worry about what I should do next time we met; and bitterness that a good friendship was being dissolved. Self-justification argued that he was the one who needed to change his outlook. However, I worked hard to bring my thinking into accord with Truth and to discover what infinite Love knows of man.

When I reminded myself that human existence is entirely subjective, I began to see that there were really no external forces at work or in control, that healing didn't involve waiting for a situation to rearrange itself. It also became clear that the harmony of God's universe hadn't been disrupted and only spiritual sense, not material sense, could reveal that fact. My ability to understand and demonstrate universal Love couldn't be restricted by what someone else did or failed to do. I gained some degree of freedom by hanging on to the thought that God's love for man excludes in-harmony between His ideas.

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