Ralph Waldo Emerson said:
Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting—a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.
To what do we gain, when we give love and show love, but do not feel it in return? By what means do we measure, that we so often find ourselves feeling as though we are cheated, that the scale is not in balance? Could it be that we are not giving unconditionally but rather giving, expecting in return our fair share? How then is it that we call this love, for love is not self-serving?
To love is to see, hear, and smell the scent of the world around us, the people we share our lives with, and to actually feel the vibrations deep within our own being. To absorb and to rejoice in the fact that in giving love, there is no need for a return. The return is within our own being. There is a gratifying feeling we get if we choose to recognize it, that comes from sharing our love with others. It is not a feeling that you can put into words for it has no real structure. It is spiritual ... It is not seen with the naked eye for it has no form. It is an energy that often is related to as butterflies in our stomach or an electrical type feeling that consumes our whole being—one that can immediately form into a smile, or a twinkling in our eyes.
Children give unconditional love. If we watch them, we see that they share love with all things. They do not expect a balanced reaction at all. They just give. Is there not a message in this for all of us? Why is it that we cannot just give without expecting something in return? Love is not to be bartered but rather given freely. Science has tried to understand the “power of love” for many years to no avail. They know that it can heal the wounds and heal the body. There is no doubt that it can also heal the diseased and the broken. But it is not the receiver that is healed, rather it is the giver that is blessed with the cure. When you give love unconditionally, it sends out messengers in your body to every cell. These cannot be witnessed on any piece of machinery, yet doctors have witnessed the cure. Could this be why so many people are suffering horrible illnesses today. The reason that cancer has spread so badly though the world? Have we lost the ability to reap the rewards of loving cures because we have forgotten the magic of loving without expectation? Love cannot be invented or manipulated into being. Love is by design a part of each of us. It already exists within our being. We have just forgotten how to use it. How to enjoy it to its fullest power?
Mankind has become selfish and cynical about others. We look for the flaws, the faults, and the weaknesses rather than the beauty—for if we saw the beauty, love would come natural and freely. Society has poisoned mankind and it is sad. The search for perfection has brought a sour end to the world and mankind is suffering for it., both physically and spiritually.
Every person alive will encounter grief and pain, losses and shortages. There will be times that we feel like rejoicing and times we feel like crying. That is what being human is. We all have our own private decisions, that we are faced with daily. Some of our choices will benefit us, some will not. However, there will always be the moment of truth where we must look at ourselves and ask, “Have I done the best I could?” These moments direct our destiny, our direction for the tomorrows we have left on earth. The challenge is to be able to look within our own being and say, “I have done the best I could.” Only then will we heal and the biggest part of this is to love all things, all people and ourselves.
