Anyone who has read many of the posts on this blog are aware of my fondness for Addiction and Grace by Gerald G. May, M.D. The following is from another wonderful volume by Dr. May titled The Awakened Heart: Opening Yourself to the Love You Need*:
“And we are put on earth a little space that we might learn to bear the beams of love” – William Blake
There is a desire within each of us, in the deep center of ourselves that we call our heart. We were born with it, it is never completely satisfied and it never dies. We are often unaware of it, but it is always awake. It is the human desire for love. Every person on this earth yearns to love, to be loved, to know love. Our true identity, our reason for being, is to be found in this desire.
I think William Blake was right about the purpose of humanity; we are here to learn to bear the beams of love. There are three meanings of bearing love: to endure it, to carry it, and to bring it forth. In the first, we are meant to grow in our capacity to endure love’s beauty and pain. In the second, we are meant to carry love and spread it around, as children carry laughter and measles. And in the third we are meant to bring new love into the world, to be birthers of love. This is the threefold nature of our longing. (1)
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