Love Nourishes And Heals

Before reading this chapter, you may wish to listen to or sing along with the peaceful soul song I’ve composed and sung: “I Am Love.” Consider it a prayer in song. Click here to connect to the audio “I Am Love”. While listening to the audio, you may also enjoy gazing at the accompanying full color design “Butterfly and Roses Symbolizing Love.”

Love is many things to many people. How can we all possibly agree? Love is colored by the person expressing it, and by the person receiving it. There is pure love, there is totally selfish love, and there is every gradation in between. The kind of love that is truly a blessing to receive is Divine Love. Divine Love pours from the higher levels of consciousness and from a pure heart. Anger doesn’t thrive in this sphere, nor does jealousy or selfishness. The higher Spiritual levels of our consciousness are immersed in peace. It’s not self-seeking at the expense of others. It embraces harmony and compassion for oneself and for all beings. In this realm all is well.

As soon as we start trying to control those around us to behave as we desire, sweet gentleness is distorted. The only person we can truly control is our self. This does not mean that Divine Love is weak. It is powerful. It has the power and clarity to stand steady when all around may be reeling in confusion and fury and are hurling threats of retaliation if the object of love doesn’t do as instructed. (Note: The care of children is, of course, a special case requiring wise guidance and sufficient control for the child’s own good.)

It is the fragrant aroma of gentle caring that draws others into the sphere of one who shares Divine Love. This pure love holds the beloved in the heart of hearts–the sacred space of perfect vision of the true wholeness of one’s being. Divine Love sees the perfection of a person’s highest potential and reflects that back to the loved one as a mirror of remembrance. When loved by such a one, whether as a friend or family member or lover–it can inspire one to be true to this higher calling. It is a great gift to be held in this manner. It is a constant reminder to be worthy of the trust. It tends to help lift the recipient to be all that he or she can be.

When individuals constantly complain to each other about every little thing and degrade one another with negative talk, it drags both people down. Sometimes a person thinks that it is helpful to point out another’s faults. This seldom is received well. It sometimes even causes the person receiving the comments to dig in deeper with the behavior that irritated the other person in the first place. Constructive evaluation of something specific can periodically be helpful when requested, but even that needs to be done with gentle consideration.

Look within for your source of comfort, courage, and love to share with others. Find your source within the Spiritual center of your being. Be a fountain of nurturing love for yourself and your needs first–and then let that healing gentle love flow out to all who share your life. This love gives people a relaxed safe uplifted feeling in body, emotions, mind, and Spirit. If we are trying to draw from other people the love that we need to sustain us, we may sometimes come up empty when the people around us are feeling depleted. Where can we find our source of Divine Love? We can find it in the sweetness of communing with the peaceful essence within our own heart and soul, and our connection to the Creator. If meditating in this way feels difficult, try finding a group which seems to embody gentle nurturing love. Let that group support you in finding in your heart your own connection to the Divine source of love. Also, enjoy the audio “Meditation to Enhance Your Experience of the Divine Qualities” (with focus on Divine Love), which accompanies this chapter.

All aspects of creation are held in manifestation through Divine Love. Without the cohesive power of Divine Love, the rhythms of creation could not hold true. Pure love is of the Creator’s essence. All is held in the Creator’s embrace. When we allow Divine Love to express through our being, we are placing ourselves in harmony with the rhythms of the cosmos. This is not intended to sound grandiose, but rather to portray the unfathomable mystery of true love and its power.

As we each open our heart to express pure unselfish love we become a conduit of God’s work on planet Earth. We are God’s hands and feet and heart in physical manifestation. What greater calling can there be? It doesn’t matter what our job description may be according to an employer or family member, our true work can be healing all life around us simply by holding pure Divine Love in our heart. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we constantly talk about love or hug a whole lot of people– though both of those can be good. The crucial thing is to be acting and thinking and feeling from a loving place of honoring the highest good of all. As more and more people are holding this profound consciousness, a planetary network is created to help sustain the struggling souls who haven’t yet found that sacred place of healing in their hearts.

Divine Love heals not only the person or persons with whom we share it, but also ourselves. Love heals. Love is the cohesiveness that draws people together. Divine Love is the cohesive energy that holds our cells together to form organs within our body. The energy of Divine Love inspires the cells within an organ or body system to cooperate and function for the highest good of the total organism. Chronic anger, stress, frustration, or related emotions can set the stage for possible disease. Those emotions can become so repressed that we are barely conscious of them. But they can still be exerting their undermining influence anyway. When we have feelings of anger or frustration or sadness, we need to find constructive wholesome ways to express them so they don’t become chronic and eat us up inside. It isn’t healthy to completely hold feelings inside. We can heal this and restore loving harmony within our being.

Journal writing about our feelings can be helpful. Talking to a trusted friend, counselor, or religious professional can help. Calmly and rationally talking with other people involved in an upsetting situation may help to negotiate a better solution. A daily relaxed walk is balancing and stabilizing. Meditation, prayer, yoga, tai chi or something similar can be very beneficial. We can pray to be immersed in gentle warm loving feelings for other people, ourselves, and life in general. A kind loving heart is a gift from God and our Higher Self–and it is a blessing to share with others. It is a precious gift indeed. Approaching life through the heart of compassion and gentle love can help heal us emotionally and physically. Pure love grows through sharing it. Let’s send out pure love and share it. It will circle around and return to us increased many-fold–sometimes from the least expected sources.

Romantic love is passionate and can be very good, but it has numerous other elements within it other than Divine Love. Romantic love comes in as many different forms as there are people in love. Each individual synthesizes within his or her being a unique blend of characteristics that express as romantic love. One person may have a great deal of undemanding adoration for the beloved. This person wants to please the other and do things that are helpful for the beloved. His or her requests tend to be reasonable and the love tends to be ongoing and stable. This love is not withdrawn every time the other person does something of which the loving person disapproves. It is not a demand for general obedience. It is an extension of tender feelings and caring within reasonable mutual agreements. Adoration can grow into mutual shared devoted love and a very beautiful relationship. This type of love can also exist between friends and family members.

Another kind of love is demanding love. Here the tables are turned from that just described. The person who extends demanding “love” is focused primarily within his or her own feelings. The person “loved” exists mainly as an externalization of the demanding person’s wants and demands. The energy of demanding love is often harsh and angry. It frequently inspires fear or anxiety in the receiver. There is often concern of not sufficiently pleasing the demanding one. It isn’t a balanced relationship. Everything centers on the moods of the person who is being demanding. Demanding love can turn to near (or actual) hate sometimes. This is only love in name, not in reality. It is helpful to avoid this kind of person when possible.

Obviously there needs to be a certain amount of responsibility within a loving relationship of any type. Every loving relationship is based on an agreement of some sort. This agreement will vary tremendously according to the type of relationship it is. Let’s look at couples. Some couples may agree to split responsibilities within a relationship. In this case it is a form of respect between the two people to uphold the agreements. If both people in a two-person agreement are faithful in their responsibilities, things can run fairly smoothly. This was the case for a very long time in a lot of marriages. It was tradition that the man would have certain jobs to take care of in the family, and the woman would have others. To some extent they could pretty much count on each other to live up to their word. This worked fairly well for many families.

Things are very different today for couples living together in a romantic relationship. Roles are not at all clear-cut anymore. Many decisions need to be made as to who is responsible for what. It is important to bring to mind that most women are now working a job in addition to any child care and home upkeep. This significantly affects fair sharing of the load of responsibilities in the home in order to avoid possible physical and emotional drain and burnout. Eating most of the meals out really isn’t a healthy solution. You can read more about healthy solutions in the chapter “Walking the Path to Wellness.” Also relevant to this discussion is that traditional roles are sometimes stifling to both women and men. Not all women want to fulfill the typical feminine roles in a relationship, and not all men wish to fulfill the typical masculine roles. Additionally, many couples today are not heterosexual. Same sex relationships bring up inevitable decisions as to who would like to meet which needs within a relationship or home. The important issue is that realistic agreement needs to occur as to what is expected of each other.

Tremendous honesty is necessary here if the loving relationship will thrive. If there is honesty and good intention, there is a good chance for the two people to be happy. Another crucial piece of the agreement in order for it to succeed is trust. An agreement between two people in a romantic relationship needs to be a sacred trust. Honesty, good intention, and trust will go a long way toward allowing romantic love to last and thrive. Without these, it is anything but love–it becomes control and struggle.

I feel that Divine Love doesn’t give either person in a romantic relationship license to be unfaithful to the other. That can, of course, cause great heartbreak emotionally. Also, when a person is unfaithful to his or her sexual partner and has an affair elsewhere, this can put the original partner in possible serious danger of sexually transmitted disease. Many people don’t realize when they are carrying a sexually transmitted disease and it can be transferred around to others without anyone knowing it at the time. This can be an extremely serious health risk. Some men are unable or unwilling to use a condom, and thereby increase the risk of sexually transmitted disease being transmitted through casual sex.
When one is sharing Divine Love, the peace and happiness and health of the beloved are of immense importance. The sacredness of the relationship will not be broken just for fascination elsewhere. If change to the relationship is necessary because of insurmountable differences, deep searching is needed and possibly therapeutic support. Separation with love may sometimes seem to be necessary. If so, the relationship can possibly continue in a supportive caring way in a different form.

Why is this discussion of Divine Love focusing so much on the importance of making and keeping agreements within romantic love? It is because the perception of romantic love has too often lost its sacred core and sense of responsibility. This is one reason that so many children are growing up in single parent homes. Responsibility to agreements needs to be equal with romance in order to form a true love in which Divine Love can thrive. Irresponsible love is idealized in media, and leads to much unnecessary confusion, disappointment and pain.

From where will the leadership come for healing romantic love back into alignment with Divine Love? This is a huge moral need today, particularly for younger people. Attitudes are to a high degree drawn from mass media, and people in mass media too often have little sense of responsibility for the long term welfare of their audience. Thankfully there are exceptions. Many people in society at large are floundering and looking to drugs or alcohol or overeating to camouflage their feelings of unease or confusion. Good role models are seriously needed wherever possible.

Love is not just a feeling, or passion, or excitement in the presence of the beloved–it is a trust and respect and the intention to treat each other very well and live up to agreements. This can create the safe space in which true love can thrive, whether it is romantic love or an agreement between any two people.

The form that the agreements might take would vary greatly depending on the needs of the two people and their life style. If they are living together or plan to live together, the agreements might include (among other things) decisions as to: feelings about children and their care; how money is handled; feelings about sex; religion; the sharing of home responsibilities (house cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, washing dishes, laundry, yard care, car care, etc.); and what is or isn’t expected of each other regarding sharing each other’s strong special interests. This can make for very helpful valuable discussions which can deepen and enhance understanding and clarity in a relationship.

Let’s return and look deeper at what Divine Love is and how it can enhance our lives. A person feeling Divine Love is interested primarily in the welfare of other people, not mainly what others will do for oneself. This is a huge difference of which it is crucial to be keenly aware. A person trying to get something from others will often give an appearance of being very ingratiating. This can be charming and at the same time deceptive. There is usually a sense, however subtle, that something is a little off.

On the other hand, a person filled with Divine Love radiates peace and well-being. To the extent that one is operating from Divine Love, that individual is focused on supporting others to follow their heart’s call. They listen to others carefully, absorb the deeper meaning, and respond in a real way. If there is an agreement between two people, with Divine Love that is honored and fulfilled quietly and reasonably without undue fuss.

Divine Love is ideally in operation at all times in one’s life. It is not something to be saved for only those to whom one is close. Divine Love overflows the banks of one’s life. It is generous. As said, it is not looking mainly for return. When one is filled with Divine Love, the act of loving is its own reward. There is a joy in seeing others happy or content. Just to smile at someone and see them smile back can be uplifting for both. Don’t underestimate the power of small blessings, they can add up. Divine Love is contagious. People sense its authenticity. Others can bask in the warmth of Divine Love. They may want to emulate it in order to enhance this wonderful feeling in their own life. It can become like a hunger to experience more and more of this ambrosia. It is free and there are no downsides. It creates only good. What more can one ask?

As we grow in Divine Love, it is important to maintain our boundaries at the same time. Being a fountain of Divine Love for others does not mean that we allow others to trample on us. When some people experience the sweetness of a person radiating Divine Love, they may get the idea that here is someone they can manipulate and of whom they can take advantage. That is far from the truth and should be firmly avoided. A Spiritually mature person should ideally embody not only Divine Love, but also Divine Wisdom. Unless we have made an agreement with someone, we are not responsible to follow their directions or allow them to control us. Bossy people sometimes feel that a gentle loving person is an open invitation to be pushed around. This is not true. Spiritual people are powerful people and stand their ground. Being a person filled with and radiating Divine Love has nothing to do with being weak or unduly pliable.
Divine Love draws or attracts others to cooperate in mutual agreement. It is a healing energy. Divine Power is an outward radiating energy. Divine Power holds a vision and manifests action toward the vision through firm persistence and persuasiveness. The two can balance each other within one person. The two have sometimes been considered opposites, but it is very important that they be understood to be mutually complimentary within one individual. Separating Divine Love and Divine Power into separate individuals within a relationship can be harmful to the development and highest good of each individual. The primarily loving individual may feel dependent on the partner to forge a path ahead in life. She or he doesn’t want to offend anyone or appear to be in competition with others, so there may be a hesitation to take necessary risks. Change can feel intimidating. With Divine Love, sometimes we are so content with loving whatever is around us, that evolving into something more may have little appeal. Life never stands still, it is always evolving. If we are to grow and thrive, we need to keep opening to our own flowering potential. This is where the balance of Divine Love and Divine Power comes in. Divine power gives us the courage and confidence to follow our dream and vision confidently without fear or hesitation. This is a powerful combination.

At one time in past periods of history, it may have seemed that a person couldn’t handle embodying too many Divine Qualities at a time. It may have seemed best for an individual to focus on one major character quality in a lifetime. That may have served humanity well in the past, but we are now in a different stage of human development. We are ready for more complex roles in life. It isn’t necessarily an easy transition. It may seem stressful to be truly powerful and truly loving at the same time. Once it is understood as normal and nothing to fear, then it will manifest for more and more people effortlessly.

Heart centered loving people have great need for the capacities possible through embracing power in their life. It is hard to emphasize this sufficiently. Heart centered loving people must believe in themselves and in their crucial role in healing humanity and our global community at this time. Divine Love is the great healing energy, and Divine Power is its rightful partner–not its adversary. They need to go hand in hand in each individual to truly move forward the highest good for all.

With this alignment of love and power, more businesses will have increased conscience and higher morals. Business people will realize ever more fully that success is only possible when it serves the highest good of all people. It will be clear that getting ahead of the competition at the expense of the true welfare of the employees or the customers doesn’t work. The Spiritual law of cause and effect will always circle around and bring back to them what they do unto others or what they cause. It is just a matter of when. With Divine Love at the center of power, then commercially prepared foods will first and foremost be supportive of health. There would be no desire (on the part of some businesses) to fool the public into thinking that what is being offered in a food product is going to sustain health when it won’t. A truly open heart couldn’t bear to put profit above compassion and caring for the highest good of all. Sometimes businesses may not really understand the total effect of their product on their customer’s lives, but they truly need to give very deep consideration to this. They need to consider how a realistic sized serving a customer eats will fit into his/her total day’s intake of sodium, calories, fat, and other nutrients (and also consider food coloring, preservatives, and other additives). Great appreciation is extended to those commercial food processing companies that ARE truly putting the health of the customers first.

As more and more people are holding this profound consciousness of Divine Love, a planetary network is gradually being created to help sustain the struggling souls who haven’t yet found that Sacred place of healing in their heart. Love yourself and know that you are truly worthy of human love and Divine Love. Frequently affirm silently or out loud, “I love myself, I believe in myself. I love you, God. I am Divinely loved. I am Divinely worthy.” Believe in Divine Love. Pray for and invoke it. It is inexhaustible and it comes directly from the Divine.

Divine Love is always available at any time if we allow ourselves to open to it. It can help transform our lives into enhanced steady peace and joy. May we learn to feel it independently of another person. It’s a very real feeling that wells up in the heart. Let’s feel ourselves overflowing with Divine Love, and share the overflow with people around us. This ability to experience Divine Love makes it possible for us to share it with other people at a much deeper and more real level. May we allow Divine Love to bless us, and help each of us to open ever more fully to the true magnificence of our being. Blessings!

~ by Kenny Marine

My wife and I have been married for sixteen years; we’ve known each other for twenty four years. I can’t imagine being without her. I’ve loved her most of my life. I was “in love” with her first, before I really loved her. I never really let her know that until after we both graduated from high school. That led to us getting married and having children. It is hard to explain, but both of our children are a continuation of our love together. We didn’t plan on having children as quickly as we did, but it has worked out well. Whenever I see them, I see a reflection of her. She is the other half of me. If anything ever happened to her–I would maybe date somebody else, but I would never marry again. There could never be that connection ever again.

My Mom was very loving. She inspired strong moral values in me. This ring on my finger really means something. Some of my friends get engaged after six months. I knew my wife a long time before I ever got married. I can’t imagine going through this crazy thing called life without my wife. She is my conscience. She is the angel on my shoulder saying don’t do that–or that’s O.K.

My love for my kids is the same way. I can’t imagine my life being what it is without my kids. My son is fourteen and my daughter is soon to be twelve, and they are great kids. They are very loving kids because we have passed on to them to be that way. Every once in a while I have to give a little “reset” to remind one of them to “think about more than just you, it’s about everybody here.” Among my children and my wife and my Mom, whenever we are on the phone–the last thing we say to each other is “I love you.” There’s never a lack of love, that’s for sure.

~ by Joyce

A couple comes to my mind that seemed to love each other very much–but sort of quibbled a lot. We’ll call them Carl and Stacy. The first session when I did couple’s counseling with them, their words were tumbling all over each other. One would speak and the other would often speak at the same time. They were both busy speaking, but who was listening? They seemed to be disconnected from hearing each other. I sensed strong caring, but there seemed to be “weariness” on both sides as to whether they would ever be understood. They both struck me as highly sensitive people with intense feelings. They had a lot in common such as a strong religious faith, and a network of close friends. She had numerous allergies, which he sometimes didn’t want to hear about. Yet his health required a gluten free diet that took a lot of special effort on the part of Stacy to prepare. It was clear to me that my job was to get them to slow down and stop talking long enough to listen to each other.

We started each session with a short guided relaxation listening to soothing music. We each simply focused on our breath as it flowed naturally in and out. Then I encouraged each of them, one at a time, to say three things they appreciate about the other. The peaceful music, guided relaxation, and sharing appreciation helped create a nurturing supportive space. Then I had them take turns speaking for four minutes without being interrupted. In this approach the speaker is to talk about his or her own feelings about life and what is going on within–and not about the other person at all. The partner simply listens attentively.

True listening is a profound experience. The Sufi culture in Middle Eastern countries has “wisdom stories.” These stories are said to have nine levels of meaning. In true listening the intent is to deeply absorb the subtle nuances of some of the layers of what another person is communicating to you. In usual conversation, a large percentage of people are focusing on what they want to say next–rather than on the complexity of what the person with whom they are conversing is sharing.

When one listens with an open heart and mind, various of these layers of meaning can be understood. One layer may be the surface words, another layer may be the tone of the voice and the posture. Another layer may be what the person is saying “between the lines.” Another layer may be the emotions you sense within your partner. Another layer may be how you sense your partner is responding as you really listen in a caring way.

After the first person speaks, then the second person has the precious opportunity to speak uninterrupted for four minutes while the other listens with full attention. This can go back and forth a few times during a session. I call this “heart centered deep listening,” and it can work miracles. Carl and Stacy began to listen to each other rather than talking over each other. There was some interrupting, but they did pretty well. Their “assignment” between sessions was to practice their “heart centered deep listening” each evening, if only for one round of four minutes speaking for each–preceded by the relaxation and the sharing of appreciation.

After a few sessions along this line of “heart centered deep listening,” they came in for their fourth couple’s counseling session with an increased sense of gentleness and patience between the two of them. I didn’t need to be the referee any more. There was a warm respectful tone in their voices. They looked at each other with smiling eyes and listened with real attention when each other spoke. We all felt that they were ready to take it from there on their own. They promised to keep practicing their “heart centered deep listening” skills. About six months later they let me know that they were doing well. They were enjoying exploring vegetarian cooking together and were having fun taking ballroom dance classes as a couple.

~ by David

This is about when my Dad became sick. I drove him the day that he went to the oncologist. When I went with him into the exam room, I noticed a newspaper clipping describing that the doctor my father was seeing was starting an acupuncture practice. That sort of fit with new things I was learning about alternative healing. The doctor came in and pretty much said that he couldn’t do anything to help Dad. The results showed that the cancer had advanced to a point that there was nothing that he could provide. He could do some very aggressive things that might possibly extend my father’s living just a little bit longer, but it was essentially not a good approach because it would lower his quality of life to go through these really harsh things. Back in the car I said to Dad that I would try to find out about something that could help him feel better. So I talked to several people and I found out about Reiki Energy Healing Therapy. Shortly afterward I took a beginning Reiki Course. A person doing Reiki Therapy allows Spiritual healing life energy to flow through him to the receiver. Reiki means universal life energy in the Japanese language. The very first time that I gave Dad a Reiki treatment (for about an hour) he said, “I don’t know what you did, but the pain is gone.”

I spent a lot of time with him in the following months doing Reiki for him. This created a new bond for Dad and me that wasn’t there before. He was a quiet person who didn’t like to touch or hug other people. He was a farmer who worked by himself through most his life.

Reiki usually involves lightly touching the recipient (who is fully clothed). This was a completely new way for us to have a relationship with each other. It was a transformation for both him and for me. The numerous times I did the Reiki for him were gentle healing experiences for both of us. My dog often came in to sit by him and Dad patted her. I played quiet soothing music. Every time I worked with him he said it eased the pain.

Before long he began to decline physically as the doctor predicted, but the Reiki did ease the pain and help him feel better. Mom and I stayed by his bed when it seemed that he might soon be passing on. I felt his presence Spiritually comforting us. When I went out to the backyard on the night that he transitioned to the Spirit world, the moon was shining brightly and there were little clouds to both sides of the moon that looked to me like angel wings. I felt very close to Dad through this period, and I felt his love more than ever before.

Note from Joyce: Reiki Energy Healing enhances the aura of a person, animal, plant, or anything else–though usually it is utilized for people. For those who are somewhat new to Reiki (pronounced Ray-Key) I’ll mention a few important pieces of information. Reiki and other forms of healing energy therapy are more and more widely recognized by mainstream America as very beneficial. Large numbers of nurses have been trained in Reiki and use it to help their patients. Nurses can receive Continuing Education Credits by taking training in Reiki Energy Therapy. There are a tremendous number of Reiki Therapists around the United States and the world. Reiki normally involves the therapist lightly touching the recipient. Through prayer and focused intention, the therapist is able to act as a conduit of universal life energy to support the enhanced health and healing and general well-being of the recipient. There is some relation between Reiki and “laying on of hands” as practiced by some traditional churches.

~ by Anonymous

I’m single and quite content with my life. I enjoy gardening here in southern California, and I delight in photographing the flowers and vegetables that I grow. I also enjoy photographing wild flowers when I’m out with my hiking club. I’m a dental hygienist with a busy dental office, so I interact with a lot of people. I basically like my job. The office staff says I’m good at calming nervous patients. I got divorced over ten years ago. He got involved with a woman from his company. At first I thought I wanted to get married again right away, but now that’s not on my mind.

My hiking club is important to me: we often go on outings together on weekends. There are some awesome people in the group. We have fun. I have a really close friend in the hiking club who shares my enjoyment of reading. When we walk together, we talk at length about the books we are reading. Every book I read is like a new window on life to me. My Spirit can soar with some of these authors. She feels the same way. She’s like my “Soul Sister.” My biological family almost all live on the east coast–and here I am out on the west coast. Since I’m not married, don’t have children, and my family are far away–holidays used to be sort of a challenge. Since I’ve found my “Soul Sister” I‘m fine. Her friendship means the world to me. We understand each other. I love her. She is like family to me.

~ by K.C.

True love is unconditional, unselfish, permanent, ego-less, painless, understanding, accepting, beautiful. These things I have learned. I’m still working on some of them. Some are easy, some are hard–maybe that’s why I’m still here. (Written by a busy grandmother of five.)

~ by Linda Cassidy Lee, Louisville, Kentucky

I was blessed with Divine Love when I found my son, Rusty, in 1996 through NBC Studios in New York City. I had responded to a telephone number I saw going across the screen when I was watching Oprah. I believe it was for USA People Search. They must have called NBC and told them they had a “live one,” meaning I was an emotional crier. I was invited to go on a T.V. show that doesn’t exist anymore that brought people together with lost loved ones. I was reunited with my son right on stage twenty-six years after having given him up for adoption. I had lived for years with the grief of having to give up my son. Not a day went by that I did not think of Rusty, wondering if he was loved and happy. I had given Rusty up for adoption in California because I come from a devoted Catholic family in Kentucky and I did not want them to know that I had gotten pregnant out of wedlock. I had wonderful parents who adopted me at the age of five through their Divine Love.

Enjoy the adventure of exploring these enrichment experiences on your own, or gather a few friends to share the journey with you. Be inspired by the audio meditation and soul song for this chapter. Reflect on some of the stimulating ideas and questions.

Reflection, discussion, journal writing, expressing your feelings in drawings or other creative ways can all be very valuable to help you delve into these questions in truly meaningful and relevant ways. Before focusing on the questions, you may wish to meditate with the twelve minute audio or transcribed meditation –and/or listen to the soul song “I Am Love.”

1. What kind of love am I expressing in my relationships? Are there times when I share Divine Love? Are there times when I seem to be expressing controlling or demanding love? How do I feel about that?

2. How do I love myself? Am I patient and kind to myself? Do I encourage myself, or do I sometimes keep berating myself? Do I have loving gentle feelings for myself? If not, how can I be more loving in this way?

3. What is my blend of Divine Love and Divine Power? Am I able to be loving and yet powerful at the same time? In what situations do I succeed in that, and in what situations do I want to enhance that?

4. (For those who have children in their life) What is my optimum blend of controlling love and Divine Love with children? How can I nurture their free spirit and soul growth, and at the same time protect and guide them adequately?

1. Choose some aspect of your life that is important to you. Decide on how you might enhance it through being even more heart centered than usual. Try it. Beam out compassionate caring and love from your heart center. Your awareness of beaming out love will naturally affect how you speak, how you act, and your facial expression. There is also an energy of Divine Love that people will sense and respond to unconsciously (or consciously). Do people react to you somewhat differently when you are sending out the feeling of love? Do you enjoy it? Would you like to practice being even more heart centered in other aspects of your life, too?

2. Practice being truly loving and yet truly powerful at the same time. Is there a situation in your life where you would like to apply that? Practice in your mind how you would act and what you would say. As an example, imagine that at your job (or volunteer position) you and a co-worker are responsible for an assignment together. You sense that the other person isn’t really doing a fair share of the work. Is there anything like that going on in your life now? How would you be heart centered and kind–yet at the same time be clear spoken regarding fairness in the situation? Sometimes it can be helpful to first express your goodwill, respect, and friendship. Then get the other person to talk to you about how they see the situation and the responsibilities that each of you are carrying and fulfilling. While you are talking, practice beaming out love from your heart center. Sometimes talking together in a relaxed way about the specifics of the division of shared responsibilities can bring greater clarity and cooperation. In a kind but firm manner perhaps say in what manner you feel the situation would be a bit more balanced. Try beaming out love to that person whenever you think of them and when you see them. The person will feel it subconsciously, if not consciously. Try doing that in some aspect of your life. After you have worked at it some, ask yourself the following questions. “How did it go? Was it helpful? How did I feel about it? How did the other person or persons seem to react?”

3. Choose an aspect of your life where agreements with another person could help enhance the relationship and avoid some of the pitfalls. This could be with a family member, friend, co-worker, significant other, or someone else. Invite the other person to sit down and plan some agreements with you. Be sure that you both feel positive about the agreements, and that you are both “on board.” It is important that the agreements are fair to both of you. This is a situation where combining Divine Love and Divine Power may be important.

Connect to the Audio: “Meditation to Enhance Your Experience of The Divine Qualities,” with Focus on Divine Love. On that page, you will also be able to read the full printed text of the meditation and accompanying affirmations.

Peace.