The Many Splendoured Aspects of Love
There is a lovely old saying, ‘love is a many splendoured thing’, and indeed there was a charming film by this name. The meaning of love is multi-faceted. The word itself is often misused and spoken so glibly that it almost loses its true value and significance. So, what is love? Is it simply an emotion? As an emotion, love is a powerful and intense feeling that can sometimes overwhelm us. The splendour of love is evident in the joy and happiness it brings, which can be overwhelming, but the sweet memories of love linger and serve as a comfort when life becomes difficult.
The Spiritual Qualities of Love
Here, I wish to focus on the idea of ‘a many splendoured thing’ and explore the various aspects of love. Love, in all its splendour, possesses many wonderful spiritual and soul qualities. These include patience, tolerance, faith, hope, trust, joy, courage, strength, perseverance, detachment, compassion, mercy, honour, ethics, integrity, wisdom, understanding, tenderness, kindness, and many more. Let us consider the word kindness. It is our purpose and path, through each successive lifetime, to develop and unfold each of these soul qualities. Life itself provides us with the experiences necessary to nurture these qualities – we do not need to seek them out deliberately. The beauty of this process is that we grow stronger from each experience, often without realising it. Life’s lessons, though sometimes painful and difficult, offer us opportunities to unfold spiritually. They help us gain greater understanding of ourselves and how we can serve others, nature, the animal kingdom, and the planet.
patience, tolerance, faith, hope, trust, joy, courage, strength, perseverance, detachment, compassion, mercy, honour, ethics, integrity, wisdom, understanding, tenderness, kindness
The Nature of Kindness
Kindness can be described as compassion, sympathy, gentleness, kind-heartedness, benevolence, thoughtfulness, and consideration, among others. It is important to remember that kindness must also be extended to ourselves, by recognising our human frailties and forgiving ourselves when we do not act or think rightly.
Spiritual Growth Through Earthly Experience
It is worth noting that each soul quality must develop mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. These four aspects form the cross, which symbolises the earth. Through experiences on earth, we grow spiritually. Sometimes, life’s challenges may feel like a crucifixion. We bring spirit into matter by living through all the lessons earth offers, by participating fully in life as human beings. In essence, it is through our human experiences that we can express our spiritual nature in the material world. We are meant to go through these experiences, not to shun or avoid them, and it is these very experiences that help us evolve spiritually.
The Inner Light and Awakening
Throughout our lives, we are often absorbed by daily struggles and challenges. We are seldom aware of the incredible force of Light within us. Yet, at certain moments of crisis, a ray of Light brings resolution and hope, flooding our being and allowing us to approach the situation with serenity and calmness. This Light emanates from our Higher Self, our Solar Angel, our Higher Intelligence, our Soul, our Consciousness. Such moments can be described as an awakening to our highest self. When we recognise that this Consciousness is our true self, we understand that the Personality – the outer self – is not an obstacle to our growth, but a servant of the Soul. The Personality is the vehicle through which our Soul and Higher Consciousness express themselves. The more we express this, the more we realise we are not separate from the Creator; rather, we are integral aspects of the Absolute and, to the extent that we use our free will wisely, co-creators with the Divine Will. Enlightenment is not a gift from God, but the result of lessons learned throughout our Soul’s journey. It means becoming the radiant divine Self, once we have integrated the Personality with the Soul and recognised the spiritual Essence within. Our motivation comes with the knowledge that we are eternal, and that there has never been a time when we were not Spirit. With this realisation, we can find comfort in knowing that whatever challenges life presents, we possess the inner strength to cope and overcome.
Love as Kindness on the Spiritual Journey
Returning to love as kindness, we see it as the great mediator. It is love, in its many aspects, that can guide us on our journey, especially as we tread unknown paths. Strength and courage are essential qualities, as is trust – trusting in a force greater than us to guide us forward.
Let LOVE and LIGHT guide and illuminate your path and may joy fill your hearts.
Article by Astra Ferro
Author, Spiritual Teacher and guiding light
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