Article September 15, 1980 Issue

A Love story

Kristin Marion Helmore

Because Love is God, Love is the only true power governing the universe, the very substance of all that truly exists, the oneness that holds everything together. Because Love is God, it is ever present everywhere, filling all space and shining forth perpetually through its infinite forms of expression. And because Love is God, it is the very essence of joy itself. True peace, loveliness, bliss, and satisfaction make up our very being as the expression of Love, God.

It is important also to understand what love is not and where it is not to be found. The love that reflects Love is not possessive, self-seeking, or sensual. It does not need another human being's affection or presence in order to exist. If the person we love leaves us, disappoints us, or even breaks our heart, this doesn't change the fact that love is still pouring forth to us, sustaining and constituting our very being. The more we come to understand God, Love, and our relationship to Him, the less dependent we will be on other people for happiness. That doesn't mean we should have a wary distrust of friendship or that self-centered solitude should be our goal. The more deeply we know the warmth and tenderness of God's love, the greater will be our desire to share that love with others and the more confidently we'll do so.

We read in I John, "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."^{I John 4:16;} It is extremely comforting to realize there is really only one love, the love that comes from God. The counterfeit, which includes passion, selfishness, jealousy, and even hate, has no connection with God and therefore no real substance or permanence. Mrs. Eddy states, "It is a false sense of love that, like the summer brook, soon gets dry."^{Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 18;}