A return to love by Marianne Wilson
another book talking about the power of love
Hey,
Today I’m talking about a book that I’ve started reading recently, I’m only halfway through the book and I’ve learned so much already. I have counted the number of highlights, and it's already reached 32 despite being only 44% through the ebook. Those are the type of books that I love, the books that each page teaches you something new that you never knew about yourself, and doesn't bore you.
The book I am talking about today is A return to love by Marianne Wilson.
It is another book on love (I know I’m obsessed), and what this book helped me realise is that my recent obsession with wanting to know more about love and the power of love is indirectly me yearning to know more about God. Why? Because God is love.
The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love.
1 John 4: 7 MSG
God is the love within us.
A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles Marianne Williamson
This book has taught me so much, but I want to dwell on only a few key messages I have learned so far.
Firstly, to me, the main message of this book is to surrender yourself to God, reject your ego, and embrace love. It says, ‘love is the intuitive knowledge of our hearts’. Love is what should govern us each day, what we should run to in every situation.
As I see it, love and fear are on two opposite ends of the spectrum, and every time we reject love, we embrace fear and negativity.
Surrendering to God (or, as the book specifies, any higher power you connect to, mine is God and the Holy Spirit) is not an act of weakness, but offers us comfort and guidance.
I see the Holy Spirit as God’s gift to us as an alternative to fear. The Holy Spirit is how we communicate with God, a bridge back to more gentle, holy thoughts. The Holy Spirit is Our Comforter- which can come to us in many ways. When Christ ascended, that is the beautiful gift He left us, for us to embrace love in every aspect of our lives.
But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you].
John 16:7 AMPC
Sometimes I feel so far away from God, but what this book has made me realise is that God is within me, acting as the love within me, and every time I embrace love, I embrace God. If I let God guide my life and my relationships, I am creating an avenue for emotional healing.
“Some people think that if we surrender to God, we’re giving up personal responsibility. But the opposite is true. We’re taking the ultimate responsibility for a situation by being responsible for our thoughts about it. We’re responsible enough to know that, when left to our own mental devices, we will instinctively respond from fear. We’re responsible enough to ask for help.”
A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles Marianne Williamson
Knowing me, I still have so much more to learn from this book, and will still come here and tell you everything I’ve learned, but have this for now.
I hope you find and embrace the love within you- in whichever form you believe it is in. Love is a more powerful force than you believe. To me, love is God and God is love.
Define love for yourself and cling to it.