Mary Baker Eddy wrote to one of her students:
“Love is the only and all of attainments in spiritual growth. Without it, healing is not done and cannot be either morally or physically. Every advanced step will show you this until the victory is won and you possess no other consciousness but Love divine” (Christian Healer, p. 242).
One can never overestimate the power of Love. It is the Healer of all healers, the most desirable consciousness to have for good health.
It is the way to salvation. It is the solution to “every ill that flesh is heir to”. It is the Royal way… the way our Creator has engineered us to be, as it defines Him in the highest, ‘best est’, and “divinely fair” way. Thank you Evan for this reminder.
Teach Me to Love
by Louise Knight Wheatley
There was a time when in my daily prayer
I asked for all the things I deemed most fair,
And necessary to my life, success,
Riches, of course, and ease, and happiness;
A host of friends, a home without alloy;
A primrose path of luxury and joy,
Social distinction, and enough of fame
To leave behind a well-remembered name.
Ambition ruled my life. I longed to do
Great things, that all my little world might view
And whisper, “Wonderful!”
Ah, patient God,
How blind we are, until Thy shepherd’s rod
Of tender chastening, gently leads us on
To better things! Today I have but one
Petition. Lord, teach me to love. Indeed,
It is my greatest and my only need,
Teach me to love, not those who first love me,
But all the world, with that rare purity
Of broad, outreaching thought which bears no trace
Of earthly taint, but holds in its embrace
Humanity, and only seems to see
The good in all, reflected, Lord, from Thee.
And teach me, Father, how to love the most
Those who most stand in need of love, that host
Of people who are sick and poor and bad,
Whose tired faces show their lives are sad,
Who toil along the road with footsteps slow,
And hearts more heavy than the world can know,
People whom others pass discreetly by,
Or fail to hear the pleading of that cry
For help, amid the tumult of the crowd;
Whose very anguish makes them cold and proud,
Resentful, stubborn, bitter in their grief,
I want to bring them comfort and relief,
To put my hand in theirs, and at their side
Walk softly on, a faithful, fearless guide.
O Saviour, thou the Christ, Truth, ever near,
Help me to feel these sad ones doubly dear
Because they need so much! Help me to seek
And find that which they thought was lost; to speak
Such words of cheer that as we pass along
The wilderness shall blossom into song.
Ah, Love divine, how empty was that prayer
Of other days! That which was once so fair,
Those flimsy baubles which the world calls joys
Are nothing to me now but broken toys,
Outlived, outgrown. I thank Thee that I know
Those much-desired dreams of long ago,
Like butterflies, have had their summer’s day
Of brief enchantment, and have gone. I pray
For better things.
Thou knowest, God above,
My one desire now, Teach me to love.
Oh thank you so much for sharing this poem. It the outward expression of what has been in my own thought, heart and prayers. ❤️
Thanks for finding this poem for us. Louise has great articles, too.
Beautiful poem. I will try and read it regularly.
Thank you, Evan. What a wonderful reminder and an admonition about the absolute necessity to love. Your SpiritView should be a permanent bookmark in our thought never to let anything unlike love to find a space.
LOVE this and everyone…thank you Evan.
This is the most Beautiful and Loving message!! Thank you so very much dear Evan
and all. And Max, that wonderful poem says it all. We reflect God’s Love and is most
important in our lives. Humbleness is to be cherished and is an endearing quality that
gives God all of the credit. A most appealing attraction. A thought I’ve had copied
down which is so inspiring:
“You could eat in the finest restaurants, you could partake in every sensual pleasure,
you could sing on stage in Sao Paulo to twenty thousand people, you could soak up
whole thunderstorms of applause, you could be followed by millions on the internet,
you could win Olympic medals, but this was all meaningless without love” – Matt Haig
I might add from the spiritual perspective – Love, meaning God’s Love – that we feel in
our hearts and souls, no matter who we are is the very greatest feeling. We are all
equal in God’s eyes and Spirit. Such a reflection for us to aspire to and see ourselves
as is – comparable to a humble little child, or Jesus’ compassion or Mrs. Eddy’s great
love for humanity. So Lovely !!!
Carol….I love that thought you mentioned bt Matt Haig. So true! Thank you.❣️
Thank you, Evan.
“Christ Jesus was too wise to give way to anger or resentment because of unjust and unkind treatment. He understood too well the impersonal nature of evil to be deceived into believing it to be person. … He understood the true selfhood of every individual to be the reflection of divine Love; hence, incapable of knowing or doing evil. Thus he was able truly to love his neighbor as himself, to see him as God sees him—perfect and good. Excerpt from:
“Controlling One’s Thoughts” by George Shaw Cook:
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/2efxprb4ouu?s=e
“The Identity Divine Love Reveals” by Barbara Cook Spencer:
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/16frqsti1ig
Thank you so much all!
Thank you, Evan, for sharing your wonderful thoughts. you are helping so many people stay on the straight and narrow, including me. Bless all of you for the work you do…. Diann.
Thank you Evan for always making us think and reminding us with basic truths—- the best one LOVE ! Along with Mrs Eddy’s writings ,My mother always had The greatest Thing in the world by the Scottish evangelist Henry Drummond in the bookcase and the article starts out with Corinthians 13” …the greatest of these is Love”! PS we still have it I’m looking at it now.!
Am Loving the message today and the comments and sweet graphic that especially
touches my heart. It reminds me of a very dear friend who is the “heavens” now, but
who used to love to fly a kite (on the sands of time). Her husband had passed on and
I think that gesture had brought them closer. They are together now. Her mortal “hugs”
and love are not present here on earth, but sure are felt from heaven’s eternal, divine Love.
I think sometimes in being awoken from the stupor of mortal mind which constantly
seeks our attention, by flaunting materiality and SCREAMS, “Look at me! I can give you
mortal pleasures” (sometimes interpreted as “love” ) being jolly in temporary joy, but
these do not last or truly fulfill, are fleeting and leaves one always coming back for more,
because they do not fill the emptiness that only God’s Love can fill.
mortal mind/sense are like sirens of materialism, always seeking our attention and that
lead us astray. When we focus on the – pleasures – of matter, that sets us up to also
seemingly experience the – pains – of matter. But matter is just a false belief pretending
to be real. It is short lived.
Sometimes we have to get a little angry (with mortal mind), like Jesus did in overturning
the tables to waken up thought where mortal errors that try so hard to get our attention,
but the Real Truth and the True Soul of our being gets us to rise to the heights of True Joy
and Love that is everlasting and sails us like a kite into heaven … (Mrs. Eddy’s definition:
“Harmony: the reign of Spirit: government divine Principle: Spirituality: bliss: the
atmosphere of Soul”. .. When we are appeased by a mortal sense of love … our sense of
Spiritual Reality seems to suffer, also. imho
I am very grateful for all the inspirations I can read here!
And I am happy and thankful for the topic of today’s SpiritView. Wow, this is most important and desirable! What Mrs. Eddy says “without Love healing is not done”, and what Evan says “… Love is the healer of all Healers, the most desirable consciousness to have for good Health.” And I would like to ad to this … for spiritual joy which embraces the whole World created by God, Life, Truth and LOVE!♡
Thank you, Evan and all! Truly inspiring posts.
Much appreciation,
Karen