Monday, June 15, 2009

Giving Love Better Than Getting It

by Donna L. Watkins

I've believed and written that we need to love ourselves to be able to love our "neighbor." I recently read some research from the book, "The Heart's Code," that certainly negates those beliefs for me. And thinking of the content of the research was one of those "duh" moments when it just makes sense.

God commands us to love others - it's part of the greatest commandment. Romans 13:8 tell us that "he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law." Paul says that if we don't have love in what we do, all else is worthless, no matter how much we give or sacrifice.

©2005 Donna L. Watkins - Skipper Living and Loving the Good Life
Pets have such an ability to give unconditional love. Our kitty, Skipper, was a great example of that. Today is the 4th anniversary of his death. He died on the birthday of a dear friend (mentioned below) that passed into the heavenly home last year also. They both loved well.

The aforementioned book is about cardio-energetics and healing and the role that the heart has to play in this. For some reason God's has me in scientific books this year. I've never had much interest in science so it's been puzzling the amount of great information I've learned as I see on a cellular and genetic basis the why and how of these incredible human bodies. Physiology has always interested me since we made a turn towards the natural health movement back in the late 70's when modern medicine had no answers for our health issues.

So ... in this book it is mentioned that our capacity and willingness to give love is at least, if not more, important than how much we are loved. It is not so much "feeling loved" as "loving others" that is the way of the healing heart. It makes sense since so many people have overcome their own loss, pain and empty lives by giving love to others. You can remember such stories.

Dr. David McClelland at Boston University defines love as a body/mind state that occurs on all levels of the human system, including the immune system and the heart. His research involved tapping into the hearts instead of the heads of his subjects by asking them to tell stories and fantasize about past or future life experiences as a means of uncovering the code of the heart instead of the mental malarkey of the brain.

McClelland's work showed that a love for power negated the power of love. He studied men who had a high need for control accompanied by the brain's inevitable disappointment with the reality that none of us has all that much control over anyone or anything. By their early fifties, these frustrated lovers of power were 2.5 times more likely to develop heart disease.

He also showed that the immune system of lovers of power were weaker than those who knew the power of love. To show the coherent and caring heart's effect on the immune system, he showed students documentary films. Those who watched Mother Theresa experienced a profound increase in their immuno-efficiency. Watching a person with a coherent, open heart, seemed to make the students' hearts more coherent, open, and more able to tap into their own heart's trust code, and these changes were accompanied by a lasting enhancement of their immunity.

Cardio-energetics proposes that healing is a matter of the heart, not the head. It's a choice to tune into another realm beyond that with which the brain is more comfortable. A "picture" of this would be what the mother told the author as a child when his grandfather died and he asked her if everybody had to get old.

She said, "The body gets old, but never your mind. Even if the brain seems to fail and the body gets weak, the heart stays strong and its energy is forever. In the central place of every heart, there is a recording and sending chamber; so long as you see to it that your heart keeps sending loving signals to other hearts even when you are sad, your heart will get loving signals back. If what you sent was beautiful, cheerful, hopeful, and caring, that is what your heart will eventually receive, and no matter what happens to your brain or your body, who you are and have been to others will make you forever young at heart."

It will also make us immortal in one way because we will live on in other people's hearts. And that's the case with me and my special friend, Louise Allred. She gave so much love that nothing else she had to do was more important. I have known many that have died and I have wonderful memories of them, but with Louise, it's like she remains because she directed so much love within me that I still feel her presence and am inspired by it to love others as a picture of Christ ... which is what she was to me.

Reference: The Heart's Code

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