Lord, in Thy presence I seek refuge; in Thy presence I find peace; in Thy love I feel the certainty that calms my heart. Thank Thee, Lord, for Thy signs of love. Every message that I know comes from Thee is like an embrace that has no end. It warms my heart to feel Thy presence within me. Only one who has already lived it knows what it is to feel the Lord. Thank Thee for placing in my life reminders of Thy love.
To feel love, to live in love, is Christ’s commandment for our lives. We must love. Yet what is love? Is it finding someone special? Is it finding someone beautiful? Is it wanting to be near someone?
And what is it to love? To give affection, welcome, words of comfort? To rejoice, to laugh, to connect? To admire, to smile, to be moved? To desire, to kiss, to touch? To listen, to understand, to be present? To give gifts, to praise, to express oneself? To lighten burdens, to lessen pain, acts of service?
Jesus demonstrated one of the rarest forms of love: that of giving Himself for the other. If this is one of the rarest, it is also one of the highest, because He loved the world in such a way that He gave Himself to save us.
Love can be expressed in many ways: with joy, with affection, with presence, and with service. But the outward is still an imperfect expression of love. Love is much more than its expression. Love is all of this and much more; above all, love is something that is felt in the heart. What is outside does not matter if the intentions are obscure; what always matters is what is being felt within us. In all these cases, love is the feeling that floods our heart and guides us to act.
What is pure love, what is the love of Christ?
Love is when we feel another person to be important; love is when we value someone, not for the outward, but for their essence. Love is to give importance, to feel someone as important, to give worth, to value.
When we finally understand all this, we understand that the greatest commandment, “To love God above all things,” is to value, to give importance to God above all things. As Christ did: to give oneself completely, one’s whole life. Value God to the point that there is nothing more important than Him, not even your own life. It is not enough merely to do, but rather to feel, and, in order to feel, we must value Him above all.
Jesus, may Thy friendship always be my priority, may I always surrender my heart to Thee, may I always remember Thy presence and Thy love, and may I, with each passing day, cultivate an ever greater love for Thee. As I seek to love those whom I love most, may I seek to love Thee with the same intensity.
The Lord has always been by my side, has always loved me, has always desired for me the highest good, has always counseled me, has always guided me, only waiting for me to recognize that, by making myself present before Thee, I would find all that I seek.
Thy love has always been present; yet, in my stubbornness, I turned my back and did not see it, did not hear it, did not feel it.
By turning myself toward Thee, setting my thought on Thee, setting my focus on Thee, making Thee my friend, my companion, my brother, my father, my confidant, at last I lifted up my face and saw Thy ever-present gaze, and I was able to feel Thy infinite love.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of the Universe, thank Thee for always leading me back to the path of life, for allowing pain not to destroy me, but rather to transform me and draw me ever closer to Thee.
Thank Thee, Master Jesus, for Thy teachings. Thank Thee very much, Lord my God, for all the paths of my life that have led me into my presence in Thee.
Father, show me how to love even those who have hurt me. Teach me to forgive, teach me to feel love, teach me discernment so that I may not be disappointed and hurt, that I may have love, compassion, and discernment.
The first commandment is to love God above all things; upon this commandment, I place Christ’s “follow Me.” To follow the principle of Christ, the one supreme God.
Love: when I think of loving, I think of the beauty of actions, of feelings, toward one’s neighbor. Love is the unmistakable feeling of deep affection; the recognition of this feeling is admirable and moving. Everything comes down to this, and the most important commandment of all is this: to love, to love, and to love.
No feeling, except love, is permitted; the measure between what we can and what we ought, what is fitting for us, is only love. We have the free will to choose everything, but love is the essence of God. To feel love is to become ever more like God; the greater the love you carry, the more like and closer to God you will be.
We must cultivate love for everything and everyone and allow ourselves to feel it. Not to seek to receive love, but to feel it for God, for others, and for oneself. Love is infinite; the love we ought to feel is a calm, serene love. All that matters is this, because life does not lie in the quality of experiences, but in the quality of how we feel, and everything we feel is something we ourselves create.
Lord, nourish my heart and, for all eternity, teach me to attain Thy infinite love. Open my heart, heal it, teach me to think as Thou dost, to have compassion, forbearance, and mercy toward our brothers. Remove from me all impurities, all wicked thoughts, all impure thoughts, everything within me that does me harm. I know Thy power, Jesus; I know that Thou canst transform me, and I permit Thy intercession to mold me. Take from me all the burdens that my heart insists on carrying; I desire to live in full peace, with full trust in Thee and in Thy name. Purify my soul. Mold my spirit.
I sought peace in so many places and teachings, I sought it in truth, I sought it in understanding, and I know that all of this was necessary for me now to understand what I know today. Jesus, Thou art the Master of peace, Thou art the Master of love; no one knows better than Thee how to attain peace and love in the heart. Today I understand and comprehend better how Thy consciousness operates, and I am able to accept and believe in Thy presence and in Thy love.
I needed to know, I needed to understand; superficial explanations were not sufficient for me. I could not accept the simple view that the world had of Thee. I had to search through all religions, through all traditions, through all mysteries; I had to search within myself, I had to see with my own eyes, in order finally to understand that I need only follow Thee. Only that. I desire to be present in Thy presence, I desire to feel the love that Thou feelest, I desire to love as Thou lovest, I desire the peace that Thou hast.
Beloved Father, today is a new day. Every day is a new day. I am grateful for Thy wisdom, Jesus.
I spent so much time trying to understand, studying, searching, and seeking. The truth brought me clarity, but it had never fully filled me. Today I understand that I do not need to know everything and that I may rest in Thee. I need nothing more than to follow Thee. I have understood what I needed to understand in order to accept the truth, in order to accept Thee completely. Today I see that all I ever truly needed was Thee.
I am grateful to have this understanding today: that I do not need to be perfect, that I do not need to try alone on the path of peace and happiness, that all I need in order to find this peace is to remain in Thy presence, and Thou wilt teach me to be who I need to become in order to attain this divine peace.
Fragments of an awakened soul 