THE PRICE OF LOVE

You ever wonder what the cost of love really is? I'm sure each one of us could come up with a different answer according to our personal experiences. Of course it doesn't cost anything to give love or to accept love. That is of course, if the love is an unconditional one. I was recently looking through some old copies of the Science of Mind magazine when I ran across the one I am talking about now. It was printed in the magazine's daily meditations and was dated May 21st of 2004. And yes, I do manage to keep some of the older copies instead of giving all of them away. Their page for this daily affirmations was titled The Price of Love. And it started out with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson who stated the following: He who is in love is wise and is becoming wiser, sees newly every time he looks at the object beloved, drawing from it with his eyes and his mind those virtues which it possess. That particular quote came from Emerson's work which was titled The Method of Nature. Following that quote was a quote of their own which stated this: If we look at love long enough, we shall become lovely, for this is the way of love.  That quote comes from the SOM Textbook page 491.The following is the rest of that days work and I am not sure who the author was on this one. But with that in mind here is the rest of the work.
Kahil Gibran, in his book The Prophet, said that unconditional love is not to be perceived as converging two islands into one. In love the two must remain distinct, individual, and be where the one water of love washes upon their shores. The price of love includes retaining our own individuality, as we allow the other the same right. There is an absence of love in the one who says, if you love me, you will, or will not, do a certain thing; will or will not be a certain way.
 Real love requires us to retain our identity, live with integrity, perform in strength, and offer protection, shelter, and support. The price of love prevents us from allowing ourselves to be manipulated, and thereby becoming shapeless, characterless, and unable to function from truth. Love is present when one can say, "I allow you all of the space you require to be yourself, because that is the only way I can mirror your gift to my life."
 When I feel loved, I know I can safely tell you how I feel, what I think, and reveal to you the poetry of my dreams. Since I know you are for me, and know you believe I can become what I want to be, I want you to know my past limitations do not bind me. You can count on me to grow. You can count on me to be there if you fall. I will catch you and put your feet back on the path you have chosen==as you would do for me. This is the price of love. Because my love for you comes from the Cosmic Sea, I have endless currency to pay the price.
 And the writer then leaves us with the following affirmation:
Today I am reborn in the river of your love, washing the shores of my soul.

I wish I had kept the entire magazine from which this reading came but instead I had torn out the one page to keep and gave away the magazine to someone else on life's pathway of discovery. I would love to know who the author was because I feel they said it perfectly what unconditional love is and what it costs us. My hope is that all of you got some good from this work and that in your life you have at least one soul who will Always love you unconditionally. Because if you do, then everything else in this life is pure gravy! I leave all of you with a reminder to try and do something nice for someone just because you can. And please remember that you are LOVED. Even if it doesn't always feel that way! Go out in this world with a smile and lend a helping hand when you can and always enjoy this One Eternal Moment! Bless your hearts, all of you!