Love is a quintessential hallmark of spiritual living. Without it, we feel no impetus to create or connect…what is the point? So often, though, we confuse genuine, God-given love with the capricious sprite of human affection. But when we surrender our small-minded misperceptions and let the celestial love born within to prize open, we bare ourselves to a state of grace that transcends any earthly bounds.
“The spiritual meaning of love is measured by what it can do. Love is meant to heal. Love is meant to renew. Love is meant to bring us closer to God.” - Marcus Aurelius
When we feel we are at our best, it seems love pours over the whole of our world and unspoiled spirits. When we are at our worst, love seeps through the cracks and crevices of our broken hearts and shattered lives. No matter our current condition, love can and will always find a way in us. That is its true nature - relentlessly, passionately, and unconditionally seeking to heal, comfort, uplift, and fortify the spirit within each of us individually and all together. All it takes is a willingness to believe in universal love.
It is not the amount of love in the world that changes; it is the change in consciousness that opens our hearts to a world of love.
The Heart of the Matter
Love is the omnipresent flow of God living in and around everyone, forever moving us into a cohesive relationship with all life. Through love, we find the trinity of our divinity – our own sacred self, the Almighty Spirit, and oneness with all. It is not the amount of love in the world that changes; it is the change in consciousness that opens our hearts to a world of love.
To dive deep into the heart of the matter, we draw inspiration from Kabbalah and the holy text, the Zohar (translation by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai [Rashbi], Zohar for All):
In love is found the secret of divine unity.
It is love that unites the higher
And the lower stages of existence,
That raises the lower to the level of the higher –
Where all become fused into one.
When we live by the principle of love, we cannot help but unify with the Beloved, both transcendent and mundane. As above, so below. The more we allow our hearts to lead the way, the more we conspire with the Spirit that knows everything about us and loves us still. And we find our own heaven on earth in our capacity to love ourselves and each other as one.
Unity Consciousness
Unity consciousness involves opening to and accepting love in every size, shape, and color. Because we are all born of the One Love, we ultimately live in unity with and as One Love, even when our daily habits of separation lead us to believe otherwise. Living by the principle that love is the eternal creative essence of all life, and practicing lovingkindness towards ourselves and each other, joins us in positive, conscious agreement. “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12,14 NIV And in this, we forever raise our individual and collective consciousness to a higher expression of love for all.
The three surefire practices to live a heart-centered life and develop unity consciousness are:
Prayer – Daily communion with the Creator is the devotional practice of speaking with Love. Through prayer, we reunite our loving spirit with the heart of the Divine Consciousness with a specific purpose. A shift in consciousness occurs when we stop putting prayer on the to-do list and start to yearn for more time with the Beloved. We may not always know how to pray, or we may need the prayers of others for encouragement. Whatever the need, MOMI offers free prayer support for you here.
Meditation – Turning within and connecting with oneself is the artful practice of listening to Love. Meditation effectively quiets the mind so we can hear the whispers of love from above, and we rekindle the love of self as the Beloved loves us. There are many forms of meditation, and MOMI is available to help you find the practice right for you in your journey of love. Click here for professional prayer support.
Selfless Service – Whether a random act of kindness or planned volunteer work, selfless service is the active practice of Love living in, as, and through us. When we give of ourselves without expectation of return, we naturally open our hearts and expand our consciousness in unity with others. Click here to join MOMI and find service opportunities near you.
The most hidden is given to the wise at heart. - Rashbi, Zohar for All
There is no greater force in the universe than love. In every moment, there is more love available to us than our head-strong thinking can comprehend. However, our hearts are patterned after Infinite Love, thus fully capable of giving and receiving love in its many forms without limits. Believing in our own possibilities of love unifies our consciousness with our Truth, with the God we know, and with one another.
© Nancy Noack and Mighty Oak Ministries International, 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.
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