So, I wonder again, the really big question, the one I ask every few months or so…

What is love?

Well, love is God, God is love, God is all, all is God, love is all, all is love.

Sure, I get that, it’s all perfectly wrapped up in a beautiful red bow. We are all one with God. God is pure love. Love is the power of creation. Love is eternal. Love is present, indeed exists outside of time, like God, part of God, all of God.

But, what else?

Love is not constrained by the limits we place on it.

Love is utterly and truly infinite. (and never redundant)

Love is much more perfect than I am.

I can but begin to taste its fullness, can but begin to scale its heights, can but make a brief beginning at conceiving its real and true and full meaning.

Okay, so maybe I’ll never fully understand it all, but I think we are supposed to try anyway. It’s the journey, the experience, the perspectives. We walk the path of love, knowing we will probably never reach the end… Until we see God’s face… But most of us won’t do this while in human form. And even those of us who do, barely glimpse. We see a hint at the nature of love, but we still can’t comprehend it, even when we swallow love whole, we don’t taste all it has to offer.

What about all those different facets of love? Parental, communal, friendly, patriotic, spousal… love of a child, love of a lover, love of a pet, love of self, love of God… Are all these facets faces on the same love? Are they simply different views of the same love, the same God? And even in the same variety, love is not the same. I have several children; my love for them is not quite each the same. We love different people for different reasons.

So, we love. I love you. You love me. We love each other. We love God. God loves us all. Is it really that simple? Perhaps it is…

So why do I feel lack? Is it a lack of love? Is it the perception of a lack of love? Do we need a certain quantity of love as we need a certain number of ounces of fluid and a certain number of calories each day?

Love is wonderful when it is expressed in words, spoken, poems, love notes, whatever, but it’s so much better when experienced. A (((hug))) is not quite the same as loving human contact.

Or maybe that’s just my silly human ego raising expectations. Expectations are a direct and sure path to hell. God doesn’t hug me in the flesh. God is not so easy for us to feel in the physical realm. And yet, we feel his love. We know it. We have it. We taste it.

It just passed midnight here. A new day has begun – a new chance to love. But, love is timeless – it was there yesterday; It is here in this new day. Time is relative. Space is relative, too though. So maybe a need for physical love really isn’t real. Maybe all love is the same after all – of God, in the realm of spirit – not so concrete in the physical.

Or maybe I’m just rambling on, seeking answers to questions too big to be answered. Maybe love just is. And I love me. And I love you. And God is love. And love is God. And all is well.

Much love,
Stevie Ray
Lover of Life