Yes, says Caroline Shearer in her anthology,
Love Like GOD: Embracing Unconditional Love, she wonders, "What is the point of our existence?" and explains that the answer always comes down to love. "We are rewarded with a richer, fuller existence when we remember love," writes Shearer, "and when we embrace it in all its forms."
Reading Shearer's book will also reward the reader with an easier path to embracing love. As a self-proclaimed student of unconditional love, she compiled the musings of over 40 well-known authors, speakers, and regular people, who have discovered unconditional love and were willing to share their secrets. Each contribution is just a few pages long, but worthy of a lot of thought and practice if we want to make their advice on love come alive for us.
This book is ecumenical in religion, embracing teachings from many spiritual paths, ranging from Christianity to Hinduism to Huna. There's even a chapter in which a frightened store clerk stands up for himself against a belligerent customer - the result of which is both of them healing their imbalanced Throat Chakras.
The chapters touch on subjects ranging from how to love ourselves, to learning how to love the unforgivable - as Lisa Gibson recounts how she reached out with love and forgiveness to the Libyan perpetrators of the terrorist attack that killed her brother on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. "Forgiveness is a direct path to unconditional love," affirms Shearer.
Every chapter is preceded by Thoughts from Caroline, as well as an Affirmation that sums up the wisdom of the story we are about to read. Prior to Gibson's chapter, Shearer writes, "Even in the face of unspeakable tragedy, love is greater... The knowledge that good can come from all, that good is in all, helps us make that choice."
The starting point, as many of the contributors to the book point out, is to unconditionally love ourselves without judgment or criticism. Part of Shearer's philosophy is that when we begin to love ourselves unconditionally, we see beautiful transformation in our lives, as one contributor recounts in her story of going from a manicurist to a millionaire.
"Through the empowerment of ourselves, we are able to empower others," writes Shearer, in her introduction to Dr. Matthew B. James' chapter on the Hawaiian Huna technique of Ho'oponopono, a process of forgiveness. "Forgiveness is not just a byproduct of learning to love unconditionally - it is a requirement for learning to truly love others and ourselves," writes Dr. James.
Other chapters touch on how even disease, whether autism or Alzheimer's, can be seen as a gift. "We erase pain when we are in a state of unconditional love," writes Shearer.
There are also chapters on how to deal with addictions; what every husband should know in loving their wives; and how to put love ahead of everything, even your medical career.
Love Like GOD contains many, many quotations, affirmation and stories that make unconditional love seem possible for us all. They provide food for thought and action that can affect all our lives if we envision a world without fear, judgment or pain.
Namaste!Becca Chopra, author of Chakra Secrets
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