24. Love is the ultimate healer
‘Love conquers everything, even death.’ You’ve probably heard it (many times) before. And yes it sounds good, doesn’t it? So you may wonder: is there more to it than just sounding good and ever in a while, maybe, also a bit cheap?
◊◊◊
I think it has been heard and used so many times that in the end, while thinking ‘sure it does’, we have become immune to its real meaning. So I want to ascertain, to me and to you, its ultimate truth.
◊◊◊
In order to ‘know’, one has to ponder about: what is this ‘conquering love’?
◊◊◊
To me, it is a question of ‘being’. More so: wholeheartedly being there. Love is being fully present in this world, to other people, to one particular person, or to anything or everything. A bit surprising as it may be to some, this is about having ‘deep attention’: letting things or people come to you-as-total-person as they are, accepting them as they are, therefore not wanting to change them in their essence (also by sometimes being open to change at the surface).
◊◊◊
One cannot have ‘deep attention’ without oneself being fully present. So it is also always a deep communication and invitation to the own ‘deeper self’, and thus to oneself as a total person, to be there, to exist in the world as fully as possible. This is: to live, to be healthy and strong, to be whole and ‘healed’ in the best sense of the word. In the unity of body and mind, this health and healing is also of body and mind. Not just simply a part of mind, but the whole mind, therefore also the total person.
◊◊◊
Please don’t take this out of its context. Love doesn’t fit in any kind of pill or other mechanistic ‘thing’ or even ‘idea’. Love is not a dosable healer. There are no tricks or shortcuts. If you are looking at it as a solution to a problem, then you are not looking at love. Also if you are expecting the cure of an illness as proof, then you are not looking at love. It doesn’t need, nor want to prove itself this way. It goes far, far beyond that.
◊◊◊
In my catholic upbringing (I respect all religions as well as non-religions), the phrase that struck me most is related to this: ‘God is Love’. And another: ‘God is the Ultimate Healer’. This cannot be put more clearly. Its truth goes beyond words. If you feel it, you know.
◊◊◊
It may be the most important truth to all of us.
◊◊◊
Related Posts
Friendly — Empathic — Compassionate
The conceptual differences are seldom made explicit. Nevertheless, they are huge and crucial for the future of humanity and A.I. Many people, including in high places, don’t profoundly think about this subject and implicitly act as if the differences are unimportant. Many opportunities to do good are thus unfortunately lost. Terms and concepts As always, Read the full article…
Manipulation of Empathy
Since empathy is a primordially social reflex, manipulation of empathy is relatively easy and can rightly be called ‘sociopathy’. Unfortunately, this is not seldom in politics worldwide. People are ‘natural empathizers’ but diverse in form and object. For example: empathy for close circle (family, ‘own people’…) versus empathy for wide circle (‘human rights’…). Thus, even Read the full article…
Compassion is NOT the Surface
Compassion is profoundly challenging. It should not be confused with pity, empathy, or friendliness. Confusion concerning Compassion may lead to substantial mistakes. On top of this, the concept is vaguely used, like any profound concept. For my formalization, see Compassion, basically. Compassion is much more potent than any of the above. Compassion makes you strong! Read the full article…