Editorial February 15, 1993 Issue

Our permanent relationship to divine Love

Mark Swinney

"True love" is a subject that, at one time or another, we all have probably thought about. It is possible to spend quite a bit of time—a lifetime, even—looking for a way permanently to secure and feel a love that is "true." Through television, movies, and popular books and magazines, we are encouraged to look to another's personality (and even to someone's face, body, or wallet!) for permanent, fulfilling love. We may be led to believe that an object—a person—is required always to be present in order to provide affection and tenderness in our lives. Yet, looking away from personalities and physicality can actually help us discover where real love originates.

Instead of our trying to go out and marry a fulfilling sense of affection and completeness, it may be helpful to look first to God as the source of genuine companionship and love. The Bible says, in fact, that God is Love. The love that springs from divine Love is not a sentimental human passion, nor is it a sensual, matter-based emotion. It is a dependable, nurturing presence that has so much substance and spiritual power, it offers the very structure on which we can build our lives. God's love is permanent and unchanging, yet it is always new and fresh, since its nature is infinite.

The good news is that each of us possesses a perpetual relationship to divine Love. Man has an indissoluble bond with God, which is an unfailing source of stability. But how do we know this? Eyes, ears, and touch can't adequately tell us of divine Love's presence. Yet the Christ—God's transforming influence for good—is always active in consciousness to enable us to feel divine Love's outpouring of tenderness and wisdom. The power of Christ, felt in the depths of prayer, shows us that we are continuously embraced by God. It helps us discern the permanency of divine Love and our constant relationship to it. Then we see that our happiness is not conditional upon another person's expressions of goodness or feelings of attachment toward us. Instead, we look upward spiritually and see that God, divine Love itself, is the cause and source of our well-being. Divine Love becomes the most important thing on which we depend. Pure and satisfying companionship is seen to be a natural manifestation of God's love.