I Am In Love: Reflections on February and Valentine's Day

                                     

                               It was just love month...

And as of this writing, two weeks ago it was the big love week of the year! So I asked myself, "What is Love …

 ...is it a feeling, concept, or action?"

Dictionary.com says:

NOUN  1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection
for another person              

      2. a feeling of warm personal attachment as 
for a parent, child, or friend. 

      3. sexual passion or desire                 

      4. affectionate concern for the well-being  
  of others: love of one's neighbor.

      5. strong predilection, enthusiasm, or      
     liking for anything: a love of books.

      6. a score of zero; nothing.                

VERB: 1. be in love with person, idea, occupation...
   2. love up                                 
             3. to do for love - out of affection or liking; for   pleasure and without compensation

          4. to do for the love of - in consideration of or 
 for the sake of something          
        5. like: for the love of God, stop that noise.  

              6. to be enamored of: in love with the girl next door
or one's work                

        7. make love:  to engage in sexual activity     

My, my, my - there are so many types of love to have or be in, to choose from:

Romantic love, brotherly love, maternal love,

puppy love, tough love, lusty love, love of country ...

Well, I would like to announce...

I am in love!

And not just romantic love – though I am! I am in love with my friends, my job, my ministry, my cats, my family, Southern California.

I am in love with the taste of peach cobbler w/thick doughy, chewy crust and crumbles topping (gluten free, of course), French Fries, Pumpkin Pie, and dense rich flour-less chocolate cake.

I am in love with the smell of cut grass, a fireplace a-blazing, and  the air after it rains.

I am in love w/the sound of my cats purring, laughter (especially a baby), music by Debussy, and crickets at night (btw - that's a mating call).

But I am also in love w/flu I had a few weeks ago, the extra load of work I had to do three weeks ago, and the agita of buying a new suit a month ago.

I did not like those events and would prefer to discontinue manifesting such events...

But I do love them!

Why? 

It proves my Power...

That never-ending, undeniable, unflappable,

pure, non-judgmental, unconditional love of Spirit.

That love from God, Divine Source, First Cause...

from the Universe Itself.

I am in love and I am grateful for the ultimate love of that which I am:

          The energy that soars within me, through me, and around me.

And even though I may not like some of the choices I have manifested … I celebrate the glory and divinity of that which I AM!

For in doing so, I honor my Self (notice the capital "s"), I honor nature, and I dignify the creation and creator that I am.

As James Mellon would remind me:  

I am the believer not the belief.

And there is joy and pride in that gift of love and Power. Now, I am talking about the love of Self, the most important love of all! Here's a great definition of Love:

Self-givingness of the Spirit through the desire of Life to express Itself in terms of creation. It is a synonym for God, says Emerson. It is a cosmic force whose sweep is irresistible. 

~Dr. Ernest Holmes 

...and whose purity is undeniable!

Now some of the history around the love holiday, Valentine's Day, is not be so pure. Have you heard the story?

Pope Galasius - 5^th Century declared Feb. 14^th, Valentines Day. Timed to a Pagan Fest. (surprise!) = begin of bird mating season.

1400's - lovers have been exchanging love poems. First written by Charles, Duke of Orleans - captured in the Battle of Agincourt by King Henry V & thrown in Tower of London.
To his second wife, he wrote:

Je suis déjà d’amour tanné,

Ma très douce Valentinée

Rough translation:  I am already sick of love, My very gentle Valentine. Get me the hell out of here!

By 1840, because of Esther A. Howland, who began mass-producing them, the Valentines Day card became popular.

Finally, and most recently,
in 1920 Loveland, Colorado, three giants of industry – 
Joyce Clyde Hall of Hallmark Cards in K.C. MO,
Mary See, the Los Angeles candy maker and
John Valentine of Florist's Transword Delivery (FTD)
in Downer's Grove Ill - 
got together to practice the fine art perfected by American capitalist ingenuity:
colluding to capture the market on Valentines Day.
Which is why we believe the following:
without giving or receiving a combo of candy/card/flowers - Valentines Day is ruined.

I tell this story... (btw, the last paragraph? - I made up) ...I tell this because I not only flowered and be-carded my special loved one (no candy, avoiding the sugar and any gluten) and went to yoga with her...

...I also did so to myself...

in gratitude.

Thanking the God in me for the love It has for me, the love It gives to me and the love It is in me, as me...

And that includes the junk I have brought into my life.

I have learned to love what is disliked or uncomfortable and move through it. I know where the Source and Substance of my Supply comes from! I know where my Power comes from!

I also know the junk in my life is just old news! And I sit in gratitude that I can know that, live that, and walk through that. I place no limit on this Principle.

In the Upanishads, it states: 

That boundless power,

source of every power,

manifesting itself as life,

entering every heart, living there among the elements, 

that is Self.

That is Self. And with news like that, I have no choice but to get up, start dancing, and sing to the world what Pharrell Williams wrote:

It might seem crazy what I'm 'bout to say
Sunshine, she's here, you can take a break

Because I'm happy...
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do

Here come bad news talking this and that
Well, give me all you got, don't hold it back
I should probably warn you I'll be just fine
No offense to you … don’t waste your time, here's why...

My level's too high to bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down...

Love is what I am … and I love ALL that I am!

With that intention and commitment to love, I have the key to the lock of the habitual negative thoughts room … 

...so I can get out!

Walt Whitman, in "Song of the Open Road", put it best:

From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master, total and absolute,
Listening to others, and considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.

...and the reactions that hold me down.

How you may ask? From Psalm 27:14, we learn -

Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, 

and It shall strengthen your heart: 

wait, I say, on the Lord.

and from Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker:

The secret of self mastery is a simple one. 

It is the clear concept that creation begins and ends within the consciousness of the individual experiencing it. 

Mind is the only cause and law is the only process.

Your Mind, your thoughts and feelings, your beliefs, your perspective on the experiences you have brought into your life, color your future.

So...
Exchange hate for love,
doubt and fear with faith, and
lack for knowing that you have the Power!

I know I have the power to move through the old news, the junk, the condition, the whatever you want to call the yucky stuff that shows up and create a happy, prosperous, vibrant life...

And that is what I choose to do!

And nothing and no one can stop my God Vibration!

Who's joining me?

Namaste

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