"Do you love me?"

I have had several experiences with what  I would call "unconditional love" I wrote about the strongest one in an article that was published in Reader's Digest in Feb. 1983? called Kristen Comes Home--To Die. (Their title.)

In that experience I didn't have a feeling of 'love'. There was a Being in the room with me and Kristen. There could be no other name for that being than "Love'. That moment blew out of the water any notions, concepts, ideas, I had developed about what love is. It is the most powerful presence I have ever felt. Not soft and cuddly, not sweet and nice but powerful.

White Eagle claims that love is more powerful that nuclear power. I can dig it. The moment I speak of had no egos, no agenda, no clinging, no wishes, no hopes, no hurt. It was a glimpse (thank you, God) of what is talked about in the mystical parts of all religious traditions.

Now pop-psychology had some notion that this was a good thing..unconditional love that is, but perhaps no experience of it.

John Gardner used to say that "God has no grandchildren". Meaning, of course, that we each have to have our own direct experience of  the divine. This story is a little off subject, but I think it well illustrates the "God has no grandchildren" idea:

I had a friend who's doctor for the birth of her first child in Paris was Dr. Lamaze. He took her through the childbirth with his new method and she felt NO pain. Later on the method was written about and practiced and taught by people who had never seen it work and almost believed in it, wanted to believe in it, but had no experience of it. Finally, it was nothing much more than a fad, a requirement if you "wanted natural childbirth" and many or most mothers ended up with drugs and/or caesarians. If any of them had had the good fortune to be trained by someone who had successfully used the method, the story would have been different.

I feel the same about "unconditional love". It is far more powerful than loving someone in spite of what a jerk they are or however it has come down to us. I am going to think about how to invite that experience back into my life more often. I do know that the moment with Kristen, I had no idea in the world how to help her , to relieve her suffering, and I kind of made a Hail Mary Pass, "Please help us here." Within minutes of our experience actual human help arrived. Amazing thing, LOVE.