Ever wonder why there is only one word for a feeling that is so compelling that it can tie your heart in knots and yet propel humans to heroic feats and incredible transformations? Many years ago, I learned that the Eskimo people have something like 30 phrases to describe what in English is simply called 'snow' or ‘ice’. They have a word for the dusty snow, the snow with a crust on top, the snow on water, fine snow, etc. How that must deepen their relationship to and their experience of snow! Their language honors the glorious variations and more fully captures the nuance of their experience every time they step outside. It’s an example of how language and perceptions are intertwined. Wouldn’t life be more wonderful and our experience more rich if we had more words for 'love'?
A friend recently asked me to describe Love -- you know, big LOVE, the Love. How do I capture simply in words the deep connection a mother feels for her child, the instant recognition of two strangers who swear they’ve met before, the wonderful blessing of miracles big and small, and the amazing sensation of moments we feel fully alive?!
I have had the honor of experiencing this big Love a few times; sometimes because of my own brief travels across the veil through small traumas or great joys, and other times because of connections I’ve experienced to those who have passed, mostly my family members. It has always been so very beautiful. Putting myself there, remembering… Here are the words that come to me…
In some ways, you could say that the Love is Peace, in the sense that it is the absence of all other emotion. No worries, regrets, pain, frustration, yearnings, desires, joy. Just peace. This Love is the kind that wraps you up like a warm blanket and lets you rest in total safety.
In other ways you could say that the Love is Light. Across the veil, the connection of all souls through light is so obvious and so absolute that it ensures complete healing on all levels. Communication is not in words so much as in all senses and doesn't happen linearly like a story but rather in an instant, timeless understanding. This Love is the stuff of faith, of a deep-forever-knowing that no matter how far away any one might feel or think or be, each one of us is always connected in Love. It is the light that permeates all, knows all, and heals all.
And in still other ways you could say that the Love is Bliss. The joy of dancing, the giggles of children, the inspiration of music, the recognition of a soul mate, the purr of a kitten, the sunlight on leaves, the beauty of flowers, the wag of a dog's tail, the connection of those we love most, the laughter with friends, the sharing of a home-cooked meal, the creation of something new, etc. This Love is felt in the gifts of living and learning. This Love is what propels humans forward, to experience, grow, live, learn, and expand. This Love is what propels spirits to yearn to be reborn and experience again.
And while Love is everywhere, all the time, the Love as Peace is most prevalent across the veil and the Love as Bliss is most accessible here on Earth. So, it's when the two work together - when the Love of Light connects people of faith with spirits in service - that Love has opportunity to expand so much that it is cause for celebration and great transformation is possible. Miracles are possible. And, when that expression seems too chaotic or too overwhelming, Love forever offers the Peace of rest. In this way, Love is forever expanding and contracting, while always connected.
When we humans are still, and welcome solitude, we can feel all the Love. We know the Peace. We see the Light. We feel the Bliss. And what's possible grows and has no bounds.
I post this today in remembrance of my Grandmother, “EB” Eleanor Blackall Read, for whom we are holding a Memorial service tomorrow. We celebrate the amazing Light she brought to the world. May she rest now in Love’s Peace. I love you, Granny.
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