Dear Edda,
I think I agree with everything you say (or say 'yes' to your questions!)
 
When we are talking about the Love we have for people, it must be unconditinal, or it isn't Love.
 
This conversation has made me think about how I feel about my Son for instance. sometimes I think I've stopped loving him, but really it's his behaviour I don't love. I have to search deeply to find his essence, which was so evident as a child and young man. It's still there, and I know I still Love that person.
 
I had to lose what I thought was Love in order to find out what it really is.
Personally, and especially after that experience, I believe we are all here to discover for ourselves...LOVE and what it really is. Not what we think it is.
 
Love doesn't mean we have to be kind to everyone (although it is good to be!) or to condone bad behaviour, and of course it hurts to lose people we love, especially for reasons we think are "not right or fair."
 
We are asked to Love the sinner, but not the sin.
 
No, we don't feel connected to this Love when everything seems to go wrong! But we could do. Most of us are not able to...yet. The best I can do with this is to do my best to Love and look after myself in the uncomfortable situation.
 
Loving that annoying neighbour is pretty hard! but trying to see something pure in them, and as you say, wanting the very best for them, is loving them.
Wishing and praying that a much loved one, who is suffering and without hope of recovery, would die peacefully, is surely loving them.
 
Wishing the neighbour's barking dog would die (which I did once) is not loving them!!
 
Interesting subject!
 
With Love,
Jude

Love is the only way

After I posted, I thought of something else.
 
As a Healer I believe I am channelling Love as the highest form of light energy. Also, when sending Healing distantly, with the person not present, I am sending unconditional Love. This puts it in a category much different to a "feeling."

Love is the only way

Thank you, Jude!
 
You "flesh out" what I was trying to say!
Juliana mentions in GGG that the word "love" has so many different meanings, and some have little to do with real love. In its essence it is somethng we know deep down, but in our hearts and not in our heads. Yes, there are ways of loving that are not a matter of feelings, but this is what is often or for many difficult to see.
 
When I often close my posts with, "Wishing you everything good", it really means "love", doesn't it?
 
Love,
Edda

Peace and joy!

God is love! Does it mean God is infinitely sellf-giving and all our love is a sharing in this love?

 
Edda I am not actually sure do we keep some of this love back for ourselves so there for it's not 100% love.
 
God only knows now I really am really  confused .
 
Whatever it is when we feel it, it's like nothing else on earth thats for sure..
 

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Whatever it is when we feel it, it's like nothing else on earth thats for sure..

 
In a nutshell Sandra............
 
 
Edda..
"When I often close my posts with, "Wishing you everything good", it really means "love", doesn't it? "
 
Yes, because, as you said, you are wishing them what ever is the best for them. This is actually more loving than asking for something specific, as we don't know what is best for anyone else. (or even ourselves )
 
As a lesson in this subject I was once given an affirmation saying, "I don't know what is in my own best interests." meaning that, if I didn't know what was best for myself, I certainly didn't know what was best for anyone else!
We all think we do, especially for our children.
 
Jude
 

Love is the only way

Teach With Love
"Teaching others is best done with love, once the heart has understood, the mind opens."
Thought for today
 

Love is the only way

You know quite well, deep within you, that there is only a single magic, single power, a single salvation . . . and that is called loving.

       -- Herman Hesse

Love is the only way

 

Love is the only way

May I add
 
 

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Dear Isabella . . .
There are many good and thoughtful responses here . . .
I only add
that I believe
that when we feel the presence of pure Love
we are most in touch with our Source . . . or God ~
that Love is God,
and God is Love . . .
that Love lives beyond death,
and that the very act of Loving is the gift,
not the desire for love in return.
It is by Loving,
we are filled,
and by Loving our 'enemies'
that we are truly blessed,
and this might be our greatest challenge . . .
for with Love comes compassion,
if not understanding the source of 'evil' in the sinner . . .
the fear and pain that causes our enemies
to 'sin' against us . . .
it is within this space
where I feel most the humanness of my existence here.
Thank you
for bringing these thoughts to my mind . . .
a meditation
with which to open my heart
to this day
with Love . . .
sparrow
 

everything counts... ♥

I am sure, I am not very wise,
but as I give my thoughts ...
 
Love is, what I feel,
If the sun touch my skin
Or the rain washes the air
And I am one with the nature
Love is, to say hallo with a smile
Of my lips for an unborn child
And to say farewell to somebody dies
With tears in my eyes
Love is, to shake hands with humans
They are not from my “world”
As well they are dirty
As well they are sick …
Love is, to accept that there are
Different minds in religions
And Outlook of life
To do not hate
 
Love is, to hit not back if
Someone hurts
To do not lie, if someone did
To do not speak in an ambiguous way
Love is, to listen with my heart
To speak so too
Love always allows one to come back
And don´t ignores, is endless
Has no date, no hour
Love is love, not more not less
Never to be played with
 
“My” love is not to describe
As well now …
 
[
but I think, love always must be felt (?) deep in the heart.
 
a shaking
is.
 

If you want to know something about someone, listen to your heart.

Dear Isabella,
 
Thank you for sharing with us this beautiful poem about love. There are so many ways to love, so many ways to say it, and yet there is no one word that says it all. Love just IS.
And yes, it must come from deep within, a place we call "heart".
 
Much love,
Edda

Peace and joy!

Dearest Isabella,

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful writing with us.  I especially like your description of love as
"Love is, what I feel,
If the sun touch my skin
Or the rain washes the air
And I am one with the nature"

There is such an abundance of truth in those lines.  When we are held in the enfolding embrace of nature, we are truly held in the love of the Divine, no matter how we have been hurt by human beings.  The beauty of creation is always there to allow us to sink into the love of the Divine for each of us.

May you be blessed abundantly as you have blessed all on this forum.
Hugs and prayers, Betty

but I think, love always must be felt (?) deep in the heart. a shaking is.

 
Oh Isabella...that is so beautiful! I adore every word.
What you say describes Love perfectly.
 
With Love and Hugs,
Jude

Love is the only way

I am sure, I am not very wise, but as I give my thoughts ...

 
 never say this Isabella you are wiser than most!
 
 
 

Love is, what I feel, Of my lips for an unborn child ,To do not lie, if someone did ,
Love is, to listen with my heart ,Love always allows one
to come back And don´t ignores, is endless Love is love, not more not less

 
Isabella you definalty have found love my friend without any doubt.
 
Love and gratitude,Sandra xx
 
~  
 
 
 
Love, like a river, will cut a new path
whenever it meets an obstacle.

- Crystal Middlemas -
 
 

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

We must never doubt the power of Love . . .
to transform
and raise us up.
   ♥
 
"Whatever has not been falsified in us is love. Ontologically we are love. And God, like us, is a cry of love, an infinite passion and infinite thrist for love. Love is our reason for existing.
 
And this love of God and our own love are the same love, and it has no end, like the fire of hell. It is a thrist that can never be quenched, because the more we drink the more we desire.
 
And in our being and in all our movements we keep the memory of God from whom we came, even when we are far from him. We are like sea creatures who keep the memory of the sea even when they ahve been put in a laboratory, and they still go on moving with the rhythm of the waves even though the sea is very far off.
 
The Father knows no rest until creation, like the prodigal son, returns to him. He longs for us with infinite yearning and the Holy Spirit is the sigh of this longing."
Ernesto Cardenal

everything counts... ♥

I smiled when I heard this on the news today.Maybe Lloyd Webber read this thread
and gained  even more wisdom.. 
  
 
Andrew Lloyd Webber on Thursday announced a sequel to his massively successful
"Phantom of the Opera" that will be set at Coney Island. 

 
Webber's new production is called "Love Never Dies," .....

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

 

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

The Wise Woman's Stone

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me something more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.
 
 
Author Unknown

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Dear Sandra,
 
Thank you very much for this wise story...
It´s so easy, to give everybody this special gift, the travelor wished ...it´s "cheap" and dear too...
 
love,
is.

If you want to know something about someone, listen to your heart.

It is indeed dear Isabella
 
 
 
 

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Fear can keep us up all night ,but faith makes one fine pillow.
~Philip Gulley~

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

I just love the starfish story . . .
so simply and beautifully said . . .
"...it makes no difference to this one."
   ♥

everything counts... ♥

No Mdflsp it makes 'a' difference
I do understand what you meant though

like your signature says..
 
everything counts...
  ~  

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

A Return to Love

Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us.

Marianne Williamson

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

  Says it all Sandra...

Love is the only way

  
                                                                                 ''The Truth''
 
 
 

Whose judgement upon you must pass;

      
    
                                                                                          Anonymous
 
I stubbled across this and it really made me think lots

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

It makes me think too . . .
   ♥

everything counts... ♥

                                         People You Need  
 
The Universe doesn't give you the people you want, it gives you the people you NEED
  - To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make you into the person
                                            you were meant to be.        
     
                     
                                             ~Anonymous~

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

. . . hard to reconcile with sometimes,
when we feel most hurt,
but so very true all the same.
   ♥

everything counts... ♥

Dear Sandra,

Thank you for the starfish story and the great quote on Love! Both of them so meaningful and true.
Here is what I found among the "Readings" on Gratefulness. It reminds me of the forums:

Loaves and Fishes

This is not the age of information.
This is not
the age of information.

Forget the news,
and the radio,
and the blurred screen.

This is the time of loaves
and fishes.

People are hungry,
and one good word is bread
for a thousand.

--David Whyte

Juliana

"Speak Peace in a World of Conflict" (M.B.Rosenberg)

So grateful to be able to red all these words of wisdom so encouraged me through a dfficult week end wit health and family issues I delt so alobe and then was rescued by a friend and reminded of kindbess the fishes and the loaves and walking by faith I also embraced and appreciated your candles and prayers whauc hugged me tight
Namaste
Barbara

God I gratefully await and accept your miracles for me that I may be a witness to your wonder

and one good word is bread for a thousand.

how true Juliana thank you.
 
Bless you dear Barbara
 

So grateful to be able to red all these words of wisdom so encouraged me through a dfficult week end wit health and family issues I delt so alobe

  
 
It's so good to know we are never alone not ever.
 
Love to all xx

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

 
 
easier said than done
 
 
 
Never live in the past but always learn from it.
       - Anonymous

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

                                                                        Read by Lady Jane Fellow at the funeral of Diane Princess of Wales

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

I will post this message in the new German forum because someone would maybe translate it.
But I wanted to send it in the trueth here...
 
Es gibt sehr viele weise Sprüche. Wenn man sie jedoch ansieht, dann findet man in vielen, ja in fast den meisten, einen Fehler.
Sprüche werden ab dem Zeitpunkt gerne missverstanden, wenn sie durch Metaphern ausgedrückt werden. Doch gerade diese Metaphern lassen sich eindeutig zuordnen, weil sie vom Autor bewusst verwendet werden, um eine Aussage in ihrer Sinnerfassung emporzuheben oder abzuwerten. Die Kunst ist es, zu erkennen, welches von beiden ein Autor beabsichtigt hat.
 
And I want to beg your pardon again, that my English is misunderstood as I ever said...
 
l.is.
 

If you want to know something about someone, listen to your heart.

There are a lot of wise sayings. If, nevertheless, one looks at them, one finds in many, in almost most, a mistake.
Sayings are misunderstood from the time with pleasure if they are expressed by metaphors. However, just these metaphors can be assigned unambiguously because they are used by the author consciously to raise a statement in her sensory capture or to depreciate. The art is to recognize which of both an author has intended.
 

                   Isabella 
 
(I just used Buba's sign )
 
This is how it was translated with my gobbledygook  friend
 

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Time is . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKHhpzFSKOg
 

everything counts... ♥

Dear Sandra,
 
The translation is surprisingly fair. Two sentences are not quite right. The first one could be translated: "Sayings are likely to be misunderstood at the point, when they are expressed in metaphors."
 
The second sentence is rather difficult to translate:
"The metaphors can be assigned unambiguously exactly because the author used them deliberately to elevate or lower a statement in regard to the comprehension of its meaning."
 
Edda

Peace and joy!

"Sayings are likely to be misunderstood at the point, when they are expressed in metaphors."

 
I think it's time for me to stop trying to translate as it can be very confusing and misleading to all especially me .
 
Thank you though Edda  I do appreciate all the time and effort you spend on translating.

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥