Article July 21, 1980 Issue

The ability to love

ROSE M. HENNIKER-HEATON

Some people seem to have more natural ability to love than others. For them, loving is a delight and not a duty. But what of the conscientious person who knows he ought to love but finds it difficult?

If the ability to love spontaneously seems absent, can it be gained? What is this ability? At one level, it is the capacity to respond to people and situations with genuine warmth and generosity of feeling. But at a deeper level, it is to readily see all within the ambiance of still greater love, the divine Love that is God.

A woman who wished to have a deeper understanding of Christian Science once asked someone what love really was. After some thought he replied, "I can't tell you that. Love is a revelation." Much disappointed, she went to sit in a park nearby. She didn't understand his answer, but she had great respect for the spiritual sense of this individual. She knew there must be meaning in what he had said.

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