Valuing Love

Written by Dr. Nathaniel Branden


Nathaniel Branden - Valuing Love

I do not know if there has ever been a time in history whenrepparttar word love has been used so promiscuously as it is at present.

We are told constantly that we must "love" everyone. Leaders of movements declare that they "love" followers they have never met. Enthusiasts of personal-growth workshops and encounter-group weekends emerge from such experiences announcing that they "love" all people everywhere.

Just as a currency, inrepparttar 128881 process of becoming more and more inflated, has less and less purchasing power, so words, through an analogous process of inflation, through being used less and less discriminately, are progressively emptied of meaning.

It is possible to feel benevolence and goodwill toward human beings one does not know or does not know very well. It is not possible to feel love. Aristotle made this observation twenty-five hundred years ago, and we still need to remember it. In forgetting it, all we accomplish isrepparttar 128882 destruction ofrepparttar 128883 concept of love.

Love by its very nature entails a process of selection, of discrimination. Love is our response to what represents our highest values. Love is a response to distinctive characteristics possessed by some beings but not by all. Otherwise, what would berepparttar 128884 tribute of love?

If love between adults does not imply admiration, if it does not imply an appreciation of traits and qualities thatrepparttar 128885 recipient of love possesses, what meaning or significance would love have and why would anyone consider it desirable?

In his book "The Art of Loving," Erich Fromm wrote: "In essence, all human beings are identical. We are all part of One; we are One. This being so, it should not make any difference whom we love."

Really? If we were to ask our lovers why they care for us, consider what our reaction would be if told, "Why shouldn't I love you? All human beings are identical. Therefore, it doesn't make any difference whom I love. So it might as well be you." Not very inspiring, is it?

So I findrepparttar 128886 advocacy of "universal love" puzzling -- if one takes words literally. Not everyone condemns sexual promiscuity, but I have never heard of anyone who hails it as an outstanding virtue. But spiritual promiscuity? Is that an outstanding virtue? Why? Isrepparttar 128887 spirit so much less important thanrepparttar 128888 body?

In commenting on this paradox, Ayn Rand wrote in "Atlas Shrugged": "A morality that professesrepparttar 128889 belief thatrepparttar 128890 values ofrepparttar 128891 spirit are more precious than matter, a morality that teaches you to scorn a whore who gives her body indiscriminately to all men --repparttar 128892 same morality demands that you surrender your soul in promiscuous love for all comers."

My own impression is that people who talk of "loving" everyone are, in fact, expressing a wish or a plea that everyone love them. But to take love -- above all, love between adults -- seriously, to treatrepparttar 128893 concept with respect and distinguish it from generalized benevolence or goodwill, is to appreciate that it is a unique experience possible between some people but not between all.

CONSULTING YOUR SOUL

Written by Dr. Wayne Dyer


Dr. Wayne Dyer - CONSULTING YOUR SOUL

Recently I approached a traffic light where a man stood in shabby clothes with a three-legged dog by his side. As I waited forrepparttar light to change I looked at this scene with compassion and felt an urge to contribute something. The sign he was carrying indicated that he was homeless. The people in my car commented that he was a strong young man, there were plenty of employment opportunities, and why should anyone give to people who are capable of working. They indicated a kind of mild contempt for this man soliciting funds whom they felt "should" be working. My thoughts were on him andrepparttar 128878 fact that he cared for and fed this crippled dog. I rolled downrepparttar 128879 window and gave him several dollars for which he expressed enormous gratitude.

Asrepparttar 128880 companions in my car semi-scolded me for being a sucker and for enabling him to continue to be a beggar I thought of some words of Mother Teresa. "You see, inrepparttar 128881 final analysis, it is all between you and God, it was never between you and them anyway." Truly this was not between me and my friends inrepparttar 128882 car, nor was it between that homeless man and me. It was between God and me. Something inside of me urged me to extend love and a little cash torepparttar 128883 man and his dog. That "something" was a fleeting moment of consulting my soul.

To me, spiritual and physical are not two separate dimensions of reality. I think of spiritual practice as a way of making my life work at a higher level and receiving guidance for handling my problems. The ways in which I do this involve a few simple, basic practices:

Surrender isrepparttar 128884 most crucial and perhaps most difficult for me. In surrendering, my thoughts are something like this: I simply do not know how to resolve this situation and I am turning it over torepparttar 128885 same force that I turn my physical body over to every night when I go to sleep. I trust in this unseen part of me to keep my heart beating, my blood circulating, and so on.

Accessing spiritual solutions means converting my inner thoughts and feelings from discord and disharmony to love. Inrepparttar 128886 spirit of surrender and love I silently chant, "I inviterepparttar 128887 highest good for all concerned to be here now." I try to see anger, hatred and disharmony as invitations to surrender and love. With this understanding I haverepparttar 128888 option to allow spirit to manifest and work through me. I believe my spirit is inseparable fromrepparttar 128889 infinite. Having a relationship withrepparttar 128890 infinite part of myself encourages my recognition of spiritual solutions. The awareness of my infinite nature is terrific for putting everything into perspective.

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