I'd Like to Buy the World a Home and Furnish it With Love ...

I recently overheard someone state that “marriage is just the barter system institutionalized.” His facial expression said that he wasn’t happy about it, but was resigned to it. I was surprised at how strongly his comment registered within me. It was all I could do not to stop and involve myself in the conversation and find out more.

Now I know that when such a seemingly casual remark remains in my mind there’s always a reason. I soon realized my connection with his statement. I had been in a life relationship that was based on the barter system. It was so long ago that I had almost forgotten about it.

My relationship at that time was all about ego love, which is based on bartering and trading in order to get what one wants. It is totally conditional and rests on the illusion that there isn’t enough love to go around, and the amount we receive is determined by the stipulation “I will love you if _____.” The blank can be filled in with a wide variety of choices such as: if you believe the way I do; if you do what I want you to do; if you agree with me; if you look the way I want or if you stay the same.

That form of love is actually a very narrow and false perception of love. It is based on the fear of separation from someone or some thing. In order to maintain this kind of love, it is necessary to have power over the other person or situation.

Once we connect with the Love within ourselves, we realize it resides in us and not in someone or something else. It makes our heart sing and changes us forever. It is then that no matter what life brings to us we are able to do more than survive, we thrive. It is the remedy that frees us from the original illusion of separation that lies at the core of every life problem. This illusion is that we are separate from the eternal and sublime energy that is within us and everything in the universe and that is called by many names, including God. All other fears simply build on this.

I know. I wrote about the journey I took to find this sanctuary of love, peace, wisdom and joy that every heart and soul yearns for in my book “The Heart Knows the Way.”

Healthy, unconditional love is freeing, open and inclusive. It is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. It can transform us by canceling out anger, bigotry, fear, greed, hatred, jealousy and the illusion of separation. This love embraces everyone in a way that could bring happiness and peace to the world.

This is love that fills you completely and is so expansive that you cannot contain it—you have to share it. When we touch even lightly this wellspring of love within us, it inspires us to live our highest and best truth. This truth is the polar opposite of love based on possession and fear. It really does make us want to buy the world a home and furnish it with love … to grow apple trees and honeybees and snow-white turtle doves.
_______________________________
Copyright 2007 by Fern Stewart Welch

The author’s book THE HEART KNOWS THE WAY—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within is available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.