Three Essentials of Love

The February edition of the Chaplain's Corner by Pastor Dave, SCYL Chaplain

The month of February is a month of love. This is because Valentine’s Day is in it. We talk about love, but what does love mean? Perhaps our first thinking is about our friends and family. Maybe there is a special person in our lives whom we call our beloved.

Swedenborg identifies three essentials of love: 1) to love someone outside ourselves; 2) to wish to be one with them; 3) to want to make them happy from ourselves. Spiritual love extends to others than just those who are in our families and friends. In a way, family and friends are an extension of ourselves because they are part of us. But we are called to love others than those who are in our own circle. Love wishes to join with others and become one with them. It is in the nature of love to want to get close to those we love. We want them to become part of us and we want to become part of them. Finally, we want to make those we love happy from our own abilities. We want to give of ourselves to make those we love happy. When we make others happy, we want it to come from our hearts. When those we love are sad, we try to cheer them up. We want to share the things that make them happy and the things that make us happy.

I think Swedenborg is on to something with his three essentials of love. In any event it gives us a way to think about a very elusive quality. We all talk about love, but what does it mean?