We heard it again and again that love conquers all and that love never fails, secretly wondering whether it could be true. Perhaps, our experiences and experiences of others whom we know gave us enough reasons to doubt. Where lies the problem? Personally, I think that to get the full benefit of love only if we rise above circumscribed concepts of love.

What do people think about love? What do we ourselves think about love? It makes the great difference.

So often we believe that love is personal - or, more correctly, interpersonal. "I love you, you love me", and there is no room for anyone or anything else. No wonder such attitude makes us jealous, possessive, and leads to all kind of disappointments.

So often we believe that love is something rare, something elusive and fragile. It can be lost. It can be easily broken. We may even feel lack of love, be void of love. When it happens, we could address our appeals to God, asking either to give us love or to make us more loving.

People who live with such notions, usually are good and sincere. I would like to make it clear that it is much better for them to have limited view of love rather than be cynical and heartless rationalists. But, as we said before, if we are looking for deeper and more satisfying experiences, we need to grow in our awareness of the universal law of love.

Yes, love is personal in its manifestations. But essentially love is the universal and impersonal power. It is the mighty force of attraction which can be likened to gravity. "Love is the call toward the great union, whose attainment is the only real business in nature", said Teilhard de Chardin.

Love inevitably attracts us to others - but we don't merge to the point of losing of our identity. Rather, love brings us back to ourselves and helps us to become fully ourselves. It restores our inner balance and establishes proper relationships with God, all people, and all things. It never makes us weak or dependant on others. Divine love is the power of self-reliance.

I like to think of love in terms of the universal substance. Could it be true? Certainly. If the world is made of God, and God is love, it is naturally to conclude that the world is made of love. In love we live, and move, and have our being. There cannot be lack of love anywhere in our universe.

When we see evil acts of others, we should not jump into a conclusion that there is no love in them or in that particular situation. Instead, we should realize that love is still there. It is concealed and unrecognized, yet it silently works behind the scene to bring about the restoration.

Why do we conclude that love fails? First, because we mistake personal feelings for God's love. Second, because we look at things superficially and judge by appearances. Love is always victorious, but love's victories don't always come instantly.

Someone may complain, "Nobody loves me". What a terrible thing to say! Of course, a person may dwell on an idea of "lack of love" to the point of where it will become a self-fulfilled prophecy. He or she may lose sensitivity to love within and without, and slip into emotional darkness. Yet love is always there. Love is always at hand.

I've seen all kinds of people being loved - those who seem to be ugly, those who seem to be total failures, individuals with physical challenges and character flaws. I've seen enough to understand that there are no reasons why love toward anyone cannot be manifested. It is up to them to stay open and receptive to love.

Love is universal - we will find it at every turn of our life journey.

Love is all-powerful - we may trust that it will help us to find the way out of our difficulties.

(to be continued)