The Eternal Lover

All human beings born in this world need to be loved and to love. It is a need that is inherent in every human being; it is something that is placed in our DNAs. We did not choose to have that need; it is just within us just as we did not choose to be born into this world.

There is also a longing in our hearts to be loved greatly, tenderly, deeply, and endlessly. It is a longing that if left unfulfilled, creates an ache and a feeling of unexplainable loneliness. We just felt this longing within us; we did not choose to have this longing. We were born with it; and as we grew up in this world, that longing comes to be felt in childhood, in adolescence, in young maturity, in adulthood, in middle age, and in old age, till we realize Who can fill this longing. It is our Eternal Lover who is wooing us, inviting us to come to Him to be filled with His divine love and to have a loving relationship with Him. The name we give this Someone is God, Jesus, Allah, or Brahma.

I guess some people feel this longing more acutely or intensely than others, for one reason or another. It may be because of a sad childhood, a dysfunctional family, or some deep pain and tragedies in life. These souls seek out more intensely for the One who can fill their hearts with love and the meaning for their sufferings. It is also possible for people to cover this longing with purely humanistic ideals, the humanistic sense of right and wrong, of good and evil. Humans are all there is; this world is all there is; there is no Divine Being; there is no life after death. It is missing the whole point of existence.

According to Swami Muktananda:

Love is our only reason for living and the only purpose of life. We live for the sake of love, and we live seeking love… It is not surprising that we keep looking for love. All of us are nothing but vibrations of love. We are sustained by love, and in the end we merge back into love…This world is nothing but a school of love; our relationships with our husband or wife, with our children and parents, with our friends and relatives, are the university in which we are meant to learn what love and devotion truly are.

John, the beloved apostle of Jesus Christ, wrote that God is Love. God is a Person, and He is Love. He is the Eternal Lover in pursuit of the human beings He has created.

According to J. Donald Walters:

The more we forget ourselves in giving to others, the better we can understand what love really is. And the more we love as channels for God’s love, the more we can understand that His is the one love in all the universe.

We were created to love, and we were created to love our Eternal Lover first and foremost, with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. He is unseen, invisible, but He speaks gently to our hearts, calling us to Him, telling us of His eternal love for us. He has loved us first, even before the foundation of the world.

“There is no path greater than love. There is no law higher than love. And there is no goal beyond love. God and love are identical.”

-Meher Baba