"Love is a great mystery. St. Paul writes: 'There are three things that last — faith, hope and love. The greatest of these is love.'
"Love is an attraction. The expression falling in love indicates a magnetic attraction toward someone, a force that drives us forward into life, consistently and sometimes unbidden.
"But love is also more than attraction; it is intention, a consistent act of the will that reflects nobility and sacrifice. Love can bring out the best in us. Love is not exclusive. It can warm our family, grow out of friendship, even be extended to other species.
"Love is mystical; it involves a oneness with the beloved. Love takes us beyond ourselves and makes us more, makes life more. Whenever I meet someone who is 'in love,' I feel inspired. My life seems to expand. I see things differently and seem to love myself in a deeper and more expansive way.
"The whole universe teaches us about love through the mysterious attraction of gravitation. Each river, rock and tree is drawn forward in its own particular way. The universe also demonstrates that there is a particularity to love. Each member of the Earth community falls in love in its own particular way. In a sense, love is blind; it is deeper than conscious choice, mysterious and surprising.
"Love carries us forward into life.
"It awakens the spirit and cultivates the soul.
"Love inspires and challenges.
"It opens the heart and cultivates the soul.
"Love is that quality of living
"That multiplies possibilities and cultivates the soul.
"Love is a preoccupation with self-transcendence
"A deep-seated attraction in the soul.
"Love calls us to community
"And celebrates our destiny and call.
"Soulwork
"Reflect on one or two relationships in your life in which love is an especially binding force. Reflect on other areas of your life in which the term love might apply: your work, a hobby, a life dream, a favorite natural setting or area of the country."
