What is the meaning of “pure love?”
The sun and moon and earth and all things are held together by the love of God. If we want to know God, we must not isolate our love but join it to divine love.
In spite of life’s sorrows, and the dance of life and death, we know that God is love. Love cannot be described; it can only be felt. There is no greater tonic than love, which can beautify both the body and mind of man.
All love in its native purity is the love of God. If pure love beams in our soul, we will be clothed with the ever-attracting, universal beauty and love of God. Although love is born in human relations and the law of mutual usefulness, pure love transcends all relations and is free from all conditions.
We must not limit our love to those near us. Nature breaks the ties of family life so that we may learn that the love we give our family must be extended also to our neighbors, friends, country, and all nations. He who does not first love his family cannot love his neighbor or his country. He who does not first love his country cannot learn to love all countries.
Love is a condition of the mind and heart distinctly transcending all relations, yet we can worship God through all forms of human relations. We can love Him as father, mother, friend, or the beloved of all hearts.
Love must never remain hidebound in a small circle. Through the gates of friendship, conjugal affection, parental love, and the love of all fellow beings and animate creatures, we can enter into the kingdom of divine love. Pure love does not come by talking, but by culturing it gradually on the soil of an ever-increasing feeling of sympathy and friendship toward all.
The person who has never loved anyone, not even birds or animals, cannot possibly love all humanity. One who has never loved his fellow human beings cannot possibly love God. Only the soil of the heart which can grow human love can also grow divine love.
All nations must come into the temple of universal love and understanding. Love alone will last. The laws of God are the laws of brotherhood and love.
