Each step closer to the end of this century has revealed an incredible revolution in technology and human endeavor. Almost daily there is one breakthrough or another. Yet, amid the lure and excitement of this ever-expanding material development, there is a growing yearning for something more substantial and enduring. A spiritual hunger is calling for a revolution of the spirit.

Love—a deeply felt spiritual love—is at the core of this spiritual revolution. Love that is the reflection of God's pure love awakens a deeper, fuller sense of purpose and adds real substance to life. Next to the big and bold advances of technology, it might be easy to miss the quiet call to love our neighbor as ourselves as Christ Jesus encouraged people to do. Yet this profound and timeless call to action is fundamental to progress, productivity, and joy. It adds depth and satisfaction to everything we do.

Throughout her writings on the Science of Christianity, Mary Baker Eddy points to the vital importance of being awake to this love. Her capitalization of the word when it refers to God corresponds with the Bible's declaration "God is love" (I John 4:16). God is not just loving, but is Love itself. As we truly love without needing justification, we partake of God's love and feel His presence. We understand ourselves and others better as the expression of God's love. This is a revolutionary perspective that regenerates lives, bringing fulfillment and healing in its wake.

As a teenager, the need for living love was tenderly, but unmistakably, pointed out to me. A very wise friend encouraged me to love to do everything that I did, without exception. Love is not some ethereal state of consciousness, but rather a living, moment-by-moment example of divine Love, expressed in our lives. My friend shared from a life of experience that God, Spirit, is expressed in everything we do as we feel a deep, sacred love for every task.

Mary Baker Eddy explains: "True prayer is not asking God for love; it is learning to love, and to include all mankind in one affection. Prayer is the utilization of the love wherewith He loves us" (No and Yes, p.39). The love we feel and express is simply and magnificently God's love evidenced in us.

My friend's kind direction concluded with a statement that I have never forgotten and that has made all the difference in the world in my experience. She said, "If you drop a pen and don't love to pick it up, drop it again until you do love to pick it up." A waste of time? Hardly. The practicality of living love is evidenced in the spiritual awakening that accompanies it. In turn, this spiritual revolution reforms lives, expanding our possibilities and adding depth to all we do.

The outcome of living love can be seen through an experience I had in college while backpacking in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. I woke the first morning on the trail feeling very ill. This was particularly frightening because there was a full day's hike behind me and three long days ahead.

I began to read with my whole heart this statement from the Bible: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (II Cor. 3:17). The idea of living Love was fresh in my thought. As I prayed, I saw that the day ahead was really made up of letting love be felt in every step I took. As I yielded to this spirit of Love, I found that I was totally well. Step by step, in the days that followed, I put my prayer into practice by loving my way along the trails.

On our final day, the well-defined path we had been following disappeared, and the mountainside was devoid of vegetation, with a steep, rocky grade. Although the picture did not look good, I realized that all I needed to do was to continue to love taking each step, one footfall at a time.

When we reached the top of the mountain, we were surprised to find that the other side was a sheer cliff straight down for some distance. We saw the path out of the mountains at the foot of this cliff. With our packs on our backs, we climbed down the face of the cliff, hand and foot moving from groove to groove. The greatest result of my prayer to love came at this time, because I never felt any fear. I knew I simply needed to love to take each new foothold or handhold. This filled my consciousness with God and His ever-present action. We all came out of the mountains safely, and wiser.

It doesn't matter so much what we do as how we do it. Our days are not always filled with big cliffs to descend, but rather with ordinary moment-by-moment activities. The love we bring to each moment is what brings satisfaction and heals every fear.

Much of our technological advance is big and bold and good. But for those who have felt the desire for something more, the living of love brings a depth and peace to human experience that nothing else can. This burning hunger for something more than materiality is fully met only by learning of the infinite nature of God, Love. As we let this love of Love be manifested in us consistently, life is revealed as truly satisfying, and we're able to bless others in turn.