Five Beautiful Quotes About the Meaning of Spiritual Love
Welcome to February, the month of love! L-O-V-E. Just the thought of that four-letter word can fill us with unimaginable joy and excitement or drain us until we’re so empty that it hurts. Yes, love is a powerful force that takes on greater meaning and significance, as we grow older in age and wiser in experience.
From the unconditional love we received from our parents as children, to the romantic love of a partner or spouse, to the universal love that divinely connects us to our fellow humans—the spectrum of love is broad and beautiful.
In my different roles as daughter, sister, wife, mother, and now empty-nester, I’m very fortunate to have experienced love on many levels. The unconditional. The romantic. The maternal. The love we have come to know and rely on from family and those closest to us.
A Higher Level of Love
But it was in my unexpected roles as a patient in the midst of several life-threatening medical crises, and as an 18-year old devastated by the loss of my 12-year old brother to suicide many years ago, that I experienced another level of love—a compassionate, higher level of love from complete strangers. People I never met before, who went out of their way to show me kindness in my time of need. Their unselfish acts helped to lift me out of the depths of fear, pain, and despair. They had no motive or reason for doing so other than a deep desire to help and comfort me. Their empathic acts sprung forth simply from the goodness of their hearts.
I was recently reminded about the power of what I’m calling “spiritual love” after receiving my diagnosis of breast cancer last year. I had just completed a 100-day art challenge as part of a private Facebook group of wonderful women artists. This group of ladies hailed from all over the world, from here in the United States, and also from Canada, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, Spain, just to name a few. We got to know one another with each daily post of our artwork, as we shared our successes, failures, and our lives behind the art. Our only goal as a group was to support each other in becoming the artists that we always wanted to be.
Even before my diagnosis, I noticed how extraordinarily supportive we were with one another. But when I shared my awful news with the group, I never expected the amazing wave of love that I received from them. The words of their Facebook posts reacting to my news filled me up. And, weeks later, when I received a huge box from our group’s founder, I was stunned. The box was filled with beautiful art gifts that many of the ladies took time from their busy lives to make especially for me.
They had never physically met me, but showed me love in such a way that can only be described as divine. From their hearts and their hands and their prayers and thoughts, they sent me light and love and kindness than transcended borders, language, and the physical distance between us.
At first, it was so hard for me to reconcile this beautiful act. How can someone show that much love to someone they never met? But, then I thought about it—it doesn’t have to be reconciled. It just has to be joyfully and graciously accepted, as they intended. And it truly was.
Quotes that Celebrate Spiritual Love
So, for this month of February, rather than focus on the kind of love that is typically celebrated this time of year, I’m celebrating a higher love—the gift from the divine that compels us to connect with each other when it’s needed most. The following quotes remind us that practicing spiritual love not only takes the emphasis off ourselves, it emboldens us to help where we see a need, to give and serve because that’s true love in action.
This is what inspires me, and I hope you’re inspired, too.
Your giving and searching for ways to give is love in action. This is the evidence of Spirit at work. ~Marshall Vian Summers
Love is the bridge between you and everything. ~Rumi
Let all that you do be done in love. ~1 Corinithians 16:14 ESV
The spiritual meaning of love is measured by what it can do. Love is meant to heal. Love is meant to renew. Love is meant to bring us closer to God. ~Marcus Aurelius
He who is filled with love is filled with God himself. ~Saint Augustine
Peace, love, and light,