What would we do with no love in our lives? Those without love paint a sad and lonely picture in our minds. Love is not only the most important feeling in the world; it is also a cure for many ills. Shakespeare focused much of his writing on love and many famous operas have love as the theme of their stories.
Years ago people struggled to find a reason why little babies placed in orphanages died more frequently than babies placed in homes. What was going on? They were being clothed, fed, and their basic needs were cared for, yet they continued to die. They eventually discovered that these babies had simply given up living because they were not receiving any personal, loving attention. It was called, “failure to thrive.”
Sure, their basic needs were cared for, but no one held them, talked to them, or played with them. It was finally understood that babies need love if they are to choose life. Today we know that people of all ages can experience failure to thrive when they have no love or attention in their lives. Indeed, we find this often happens with the elderly: without love and attention there is nothing left to live for and they simply die.
There is another type of love few of us know about in this physical world. Repeatedly those who have had a near death experience (NDE) return to tell us of a love that is beyond anything we have ever experienced. In many cases love was such an overwhelming aspect of the NDE that it was impossible to avoid. One lady said love caressed every cell of her body. Like a sweet child curled up in a comfy lap, love poured into the NDE’s, unbidden but intensely welcome.
Debby-Sue was one of the people in my book, THE WONDER OF YOU, What The Near-Death Experience Tells You About Yourself. I found her experience to be so moving that I have included it here:
All I could see was the huge, brilliant light now directly in front of me. What I learned next amazed me. I discovered that the glowing, golden globe of light was alive. It was a "self." It was a living, aware, loving being.
It was like standing in the sun but instead of sunshine, love warmed you. It was like nothing and no one I have ever seen or met but I knew it only loved. There was no other word close to what I experienced. Pure Love came from that being.
The Power of Love created and sent out by that being was a force, like electricity—I could feel it being sent out and touching everything around it.
That being was composed of love; it created love, it emitted love, it directed love. It lived on love. It was Love; Love the Power. There was nothing in that entire experience with the other Divine Loving Being that was not totally “good” and powered by “love.”
That being knew all of everything I ever was and loved me. Not just loved me but everything that defined me as myself, unique from any other bit of creation, was wonderful to it. It loved the way I was made; it loved that we were meeting; it loved me with all the love it had in it. Its love overpowered me. I knew that I was precious to It and treasured by It. I was perfectly what I was supposed to be, and It loved me just that way. If I was a diamond, I was flawless, perfectly cut, beyond beautiful.
I was so loved! I was loved completely and just as I was, as all I was. Small, confused, I was cherished and loved. I was precious to it. I responded to that with my own thoughts of my joy in the peace, love, and total acceptance it was giving me.
I tried to love it back with my little self.
Then it loved me more. I loved it more. A cycle of pure love between us grew. It was like the most wonderful, perfect joining of hearts between two beings you can imagine. I call it perfect communion.
The amazing part of our reality is that each one of us is a part of that Love. We originated from the Loving Light, thus we are also love through our Source. It matters not what religion you are; most believe a Higher Power created us. Those who have been on the other side are now validating these beliefs. Now, it is up to you to BE THE LOVE YOU ARE! For that is your reality. Love is the one thing we can always give no matter what our circumstances are or how poor we may be. As you go about each day, you must strive to remember that all the love you ever need is right here, right now, just waiting for you to notice it.
-Lynn Russell