This week Alan says…
I am going to talk to you this evening on the subject of the spectrum of love. We know that from time to time, there arise among human beings, people who seem to exude love as naturally as the sun gives out heat. We would like to be like that, and by and large, man’s religions are attempts to cultivate that same power in ordinary people. But unfortunately, they normally go about this task as one would attempt to make the tail wag the dog. Now, so the question and the puzzle remains. You cannot imitate this thing. There is no way of getting it. And yet it is absolutely essential that we have it, because obviously, the human race is not going to flourish harmoniously unless we are enabled to love each other. But the question is, how do you get it? Is it something you simply have to contract like measles, or is, as theologians say, is it a gift of divine grace, which somehow is dished out to some but not to others? And, if there is no way of getting divine grace by anything you do, a then we better just sit around and wait until something happens. But surely, we can’t be left in that kind of a hopeless situation. Because one of the difficulties is none of us, in our heart of hearts, respect love, which is not freely given. Love is not something that is a sort of rare commodity. Everybody has it. Existence is love. But it’s like water flowing through a hose. It depends in which direction you point it. Because the thing is first of all, to get it moving, to follow whatever kind of love you have in the first place, because you cannot control love until you have some to control, until you have it running. You’ve got to get your car running before you could learn how to drive it. You will not become a skillful driver by sitting at a still car in a garage anymore than you will become a skilled dancer if you simply never move your arms and legs. And so the first thing then is to discover what indeed you do love, if anything. And you will find there is something. And then go into the nature of that."
So what are some things that you easily and effortless love already? Where is it already effortlessly flowing in your life?