© 2009 Liswen Delval
© 2009 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
An invitation to travel on the theme of love
Imagine the earth, our beautiful planet Urantia, its continents, its oceans. Come closer, Europe, again, France then Nouan-le-Fuzelier between Orléans and Bourges. National Meeting of May 2009 in the heart of a large preserved property of 430 ha, the Domaine de Chalès: a park, a castle, a natural pond of 38 ha… Marvelous!
In this “magical” place we spoke again and again about divine love, the ideal human love of perfection, truth, beauty and goodness. But what is love? Love is also found in all the little gestures, the little things in life like being welcomed by our benevolent organizer Jean with a bouquet of lily of the valley, a sprig for each one. Like a smile on a friendly face, these gestures, these states of being brighten up our daily lives and make us happy here and now.
I walk in this place where nature is queen. Images, sounds and colors respond to each other. What beauty! Bird songs; imposing trees of majesty; lake inspiring inner calm; a magnificent little wooden bridge; the sun! Quick, a photo. This little wooden bridge makes me think of this bridge between our thought adjuster and us.
This meeting in the heart of nature was rich in studies and ideas. The synthesis of our study group on this theme “what is love?” brought out points that seem important to me:
First point: learn first to be loyal, then to love…
What is loyalty? It is the fruit of an intelligent appreciation of universe brotherhood; one could not take so much and give nothing. As you ascend the personality scale, first you learn to be loyal, then to love, then to be filial, and then may you be free; but not until you are a finaliter, not until you have attained perfection of loyalty, can you self-realize finality of liberty. (UB 39:4.11)
As this is the only definition above that we have of the word loyal in the UB, I share with you this other definition from the French Academy (8th edition): “which shows loyalty, which is sincere, upright, frank, full of honor and probity”.
The second point noted in this summary can be summed up in 3 points:
- a) to be coherent we must first access the truth.
- b) to be attractive we must first access inner beauty.
- c) to be stable we must first access goodness.
Truth is coherent, beauty attractive, goodness stabilizing. And when these values of that which is real are co-ordinated in personality experience, the result is a high order of love conditioned by wisdom and qualified by loyalty. The real purpose of all universe education is to effect the better co-ordination of the isolated child of the worlds with the larger realities of his expanding experience. Reality is finite on the human level, infinite and eternal on the higher and divine levels. (UB 2:7.12)
All truth—material, philosophic, or spiritual—is both beautiful and good. All real beauty—material art or spiritual symmetry—is both true and good. All genuine goodness—whether personal morality, social equity, or divine ministry—is equally true and beautiful. Health, sanity, and happiness are integrations of truth, beauty, and goodness as they are blended in human experience. Such levels of efficient living come about through the unification of energy systems, idea systems, and spirit systems. (UB 2:7.11)
Love is contagious and eternally creative.
We receive to the extent that we are able to spread this love to others.
Love grows in quantity and quality.
Looking to the future, when we are together again, we will perhaps finally, without any excess, each be connected to our Thought Adjuster for a common goal: moderation.
The person inclined to transcendence will become a moderate spiritual being understanding his opposing but nevertheless complementary intellectual friends and the pure intellectual will become an understanding and empathetic being harmonizing his thought and his kindness towards his friends with a spiritual tendency. By understanding the other we will access the harmony of opposites but nevertheless complementary. The fear of the other different from us will vanish. We will then be in the right discernment united towards this same goal: the SUPREME.
What a program! But I have strong hope and I am on the move! And you?
Liswen Delval