“Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.”

— Alexander Smith

What is it that calls us to love?  Love is both an action and a feeling; and like the proverbial question about the chicken and the egg, I suppose the debate of which comes first — the action or the feeling — could be endless.  We know that when we speak of love, we speak of a recognition of oneness with another person.  Love, the action that engenders the feeling, or the feeling that engenders the reaction draws us close to others and calls us to celebrate our unity.  It removes the separation and judgment that can create distance and calls us to cherish the discovery that we are more alike than different.

As human beings, we value highly the unique qualities that make us stand out in the crowd and set us apart for special recognition from others.  Our differences allow us to develop our own talents and interests, and those things that define us as individual are the seed of the unique contributions that each of us bring to the whole of the community.  Each of us has a role to play in our world; and if we are wise, we learn to appreciate that about ourselves and about others as well.  Just as the body would function poorly if every part were an arm or a leg, the family of humanity needs many parts who bring their own uniqueness to the life of the whole of our kind.

Still, with all our differences, we are linked at the soul by the Love that called us to exist.  When we discover that love in another, it spurs us to the action of loving and warms us with the feeling of unity that overlooks our differences and joins us at the heart.  What we discover in another that calls us to love is not a shade of the differences between us, but a recognition of our origin and the seed of love we carry as our birthright.  Love calls us to exist, and then Love calls us to love.  Let us celebrate, you and I, for we are one.