Reflections on “Why”
August 16, 2023
There are many reasons to live. One of them is to survive. Another is for the enjoyment of life’s pleasures. Still, another is to live our purpose. But the greatest “why” of all is to love and be loved.
Entire lives are spent in the pursuit of being loved. But sadly, many of us seem to mistake being loved for being praised, considered special or esteemed for our helpfulness. We confuse love with success or knowledge. Some of us think being powerful will bring us love. Others think we will be loved if we are loyal, overly submissive or always happy. But these pursuits of love cause emptiness instead of wholeness. Those of us who live only searching for love live only in pursuits, not in love itself.
Love is pure acceptance, so much so that even our failings are understood and accepted. Love is the complete acceptance that some people report having felt during a Near Death Experience (NDE; See Life After Life by Raymond Moody M.D. Ph.D.). In most Near Death Experiences, a being of light, like an angel or deity, sees our entire life and is totally accepting of everything about us, even the things that shame us.
It is the love described by Rumi: “Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love.” It is described in Judaism as “loving thy neighbor as thyself.” In Christianity, "love is the greatest of hope, faith, and love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Have you ever thought about what life would be about if we felt totally loved, continuously? Also, what if we could always love others and love ourselves? This kind of love would not be about the pursuit of love. It would be about the all-encompassing expression and receiving of love. The passions would not be needed because they are merely misguided pursuits of love that never find it. If we felt entirely loved, we would be manifestations of love, not pursuers of it.
“That would be impossible,” some might say. Yet isn’t the fundamental goal of human life to be one with the Source of all Love? We are progressing to that oneness as individuals and as societies. The work is evolutionary, like carving out the Grand Canyon. Every person and every culture that eventually realizes that egocentricity and ethnocentricity will not give us the ultimate union with love draws us closer to the Ground of All Being.
Inquiry: Why do you live?
Dear God,
I know why I am reflecting on this subject today: It is to receive and give love more fully. I am so grateful. Amen.
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