LOVE AND MARRIAGE

People often claim that money is the most important factor in marriage, or even in friendship. But life has taught me that Love is the platinum thread that holds human hearts together. It is the rose whose fragrance decorates life with beauty.

Jesus knew the great secret that only Love can make people truly happy. He recommended it as a response to not only friends, but to enemies. If you love your enemies, it simply means that you have no "enemies"! And that is a sweet and pleasant life indeed!

But loving your best friend is the most fun that you can possibly have! Still, Love is no simple matter. There are many kinds of Love, and many power-levels. You love your mother differently from the way in which you love your dog, and your brother differently from your love for your Love-partner. But, with a Love-partner, the ideal is to have the power "turned all the way up"! In other words, you do not want to love parsimoniously or stingily, but with a wide-open heart and mind! You want to give this Love everything that you've got, and not hold back!

Real Love-- the power that welds people together-- is the sweetest state of mind possible to the human heartmind. That is why everyone so loves to "be in Love." It is the "highest high" imaginable! The psychology of Love-- agapology-- greatly enriches our lives, for it studies the multiple ways in which Love is expressed.

When a Love is tested by events and time, it gains a beautiful pattina that nothing else in the whole world can give you. A Love that is tested by biomedical, economic, or social crises can be the most powerful of all.

In my relationship, Love with my wife Adamaria has been made invincible by trauma, disaster, and general catastrophe. We are accustomed to seeing these kinds of events as "bad things," but, if their effects are invested in strengthening Love, the worst becomes the best! Is it too ideal to claim that a Love can be "invincible"? No, it is not an exaggeration, for "God is Love." It is possible for a good Love, or a great one, to continue for centuries, or even millennia! For Love is greater than death, and time.

If God is truly Love-- and I believe that He is-- then, it is no hyperbole to say that Love is the most important factor in life. And if it is, we want to make It "number one," bar none! So, we must never put off until tomorrow an act of Love. NOW is always the appropriate time to express the deep, warm, bright Love of our hearts. NOW is the time to enrich our Love-partner's life, and our own, by sharing Love verbally, as well as nonverbally. Love should never fall to "number two" on our "top ten"! Work to keep it first!

A million glittering diamonds and emeralds could never begin to match the beauty of a heart held firmly in the hands of Love. Nothing in the entire cosmos can match It for wisdom, beauty, or joy! But the lovely blossom of Love can wilt if we do not maintain it. How is this done? By expressing, and treasuring, our Love every day. We must think of it often during the day, express it often, and just relax into it, and bask in its warm, bright light.

Since now is the only time that any of us will ever have, take this moment to go to your loved one and express your Love. Do it now! For later might be too late! And do it very often, for Love unexpressed is Love missing.

The truly Love-filled relationship can bring to you the very illimitable, immeasurable Power of God. Your true Love will be waiting, arms open, when the storms of life blind you with their gusts. She will lead you, support you, heal you. Every act of Love is an act of healing, and every one is also an act of worship. So, work to make your relationship with your special Love-partner a part of your sacred worship. A relationship without God (Love) is on its way to dissolution, ready to vaporize. But a relationship filled with Love is like a great diamond-- rare, beautiful, filled with light, and indestructible! For the moment that you invite God (Love) into a relationship, it gains superhuman power.

The best Love-partner is first a good friend. She/He will be there for you during the blackest midnight. She/He will pour out upon your head the balm of comfort. When you speak, you will be heard from the heart. Soft, gentle, and tender hands and eyes will always support your best interests.

When your Love-partner is also your best friend, every day brings increasing Love and Joy, as well as profound tranquillity, into your life. Life becomes breath-takingly beautiful, and with every thought, you want nothing but for this Love to last forever. And, if it is the real thing, it will.