THE MANY FACES OF LOVE

Who do we really love in this life? Most of us begin our lives with parental love for either our parents or those who bring us up. Then many of us experience adolescent love and then, later, marital love or love of a significant other. We may also experience the joys of spiritual love with people with whom we share a deep spiritual bond and kinship. Yet with each kind of love experience, be it parental, romantic or spiritual, we don't really decide to fall in love or to be in love— our hearts suddenly open and we feel a deep inner connection with the other person. We let go to love as we let go to water while we are swimming. Love has its own momentum, its rhythms and its own wisdom. We may not be able to choose how or when love will come to us, but we can always choose to be open and receptive to love when it does come our way. We can even decide to trust love to guide our way in this life. As Thoreau once said, "The only remedy for love is to love more," and Thomas Traherne said, "We can never love too much." Be open for more love in you life.