Feeling loved

          Theologian's reflection after reading Dr. John Townsend's book
                "How to Love and Be Loved" (2008):

      "Sexuality, sex is God's gift. And this gift has two goals: love and the birth of a new life" , - said the Pontiff, answering questions from young French parishioners.
      Pope Francis recalled that the man and woman were created in God's likeness.
      The Bible describes one of the elements of spiritual growth as "rooting and affirmation in love" (Ef. 3:18). This is a wonderful image showing how internalization gives a person a firm, deeply rooted and unchanging feeling of connection with people.
      God has invested in you the ability to love.The desire for love is part of your nature, although after the fall of our ancestors, the earthly life of the human race is full of sorrow and suffering.You shouldn't forget: must not embark on the path of teaching the art of love alone.
      Don't seek justice on a perishable earth, but seek forgiveness and reconciliation with one's neighbor in meekness of spirit and heartfelt humility, for Jesus Christ says: "not the healthy ones have a need for a doctor, but the sick, go, learn what it means: I want mercy, not sacrifices? For I came to call not the righteous, but the sinners to repentance"(Mf. 9:12-13).
      Don't aspire to the fact seems beautiful, but to the fact is essentially good.People, who know how to make mental contact, tell the truth, heal, let go, be romantic, will help our spiritual growth, sharing communication skills that we don't get to compose our unique puzzle of love.
      Love is closely linked to the personality formation process. Feeling loved is a vital condition for spiritual growth.
John Townsend defines love as a desire to do good to ones neighbor and to put that desire into practice.
      Honest love is true and uses the truth to create in the world of good, for the Bible psalm says: "mercy and truth will be cut, truth and peace will be broken down" (Ps. 84:11). The truthfulness and righteousness of God is always with us, His children, created by Him for good unanimity in the love affinity of spiritual kinship in Christ.
      Thus, mental contact requires from us not only time and strength, but also good deeds, sensitive words, sincere feelings.
So, to learn to love, you need to learn to accept what people give you. It turns out that it is difficult for many to sincerely accept the gift - usually out of fear of appearing selfish or overly demanding. This fear leads to a real problem: people confuse need and selfishness, although these are different things.
      What does it mean to let a person in? In the field of love, this means allowing yourself to accept and feel his care and everything else that he is willing to give you. You allow yourself to feel and understand the gifts of this person and take responsibility for the connection that has been established between both of you. And this is a great good. You have a certain need - it resonates and is quenched through the love offered to you.
      We need to learn to overcome our own indecision. give to the relationship completely. Look the human in the eye. Listen carefully to person's words. Open your heart and feelings to accept what is given to you in its entirety.
      Pay attention. Feel your own need for compassion and understanding. Wait, looking forward to the meeting. Rejoice in communication, appreciate it, be grateful to the Creator for the love given!
And finally, you will find grace - that will be good for each of the loving hearts.
      God created life so that intimacy between people was mutual. It is important not to forget the words of Christ the Savior: "They received a gift, let us give a gift" (Mf. 10:8).
However, it must be remembered that the male essence is different from the female.
      Male nature is a rational mind, strength and endurance, aspiration to the victorious achievement of the goal. Feminine nature is characteristic: softness, sensitivity, trustworthiness, the ability to easily adapt to any living conditions.
      But for both nature (male and female), emotional memory is of particular importance in establishing mental contact for the development of love relations.
      The term internalization (assignment) means the following: having felt the care of others, we make the acquired emotional experience part of our psyche. Every time people give us love, our emotional memory captures the memory of this event and it doesn't disappear anywhere.
      Such memories accumulate, and when a certain critical mass of memories of help, support and acceptance is gained, a personality (from a state of inner loneliness and dislike) proceeds into a state of friendly openness, when the ability for mental intimacy becomes an integral part of our psychical"Myself".
      Emotional memory preserves good memories of feelings received during our mental and sociable contact with! people. That is, the potential of a friendly-loving perception of God's world accumulates in emotional memory.
A personality - in need of God's help, but doesn't feel a need to open himself heart to humans - is a breaker of the Bible's laws of a fellowship, which doesn't allow to become an integral individual.
      For cure from heart injury and overcome the psychological habit of protective self-isolation, you need to establish mental contact with kind and reliable people.
      Bible's main point: we are created by God for mental intimacy. The entire universe rests on Divine Love. And if your life has been deprived of love in the past, that is no reason to deny the true laws of the world.
Remember the basic law of life: love can work miracles.We're made to be loved.
Georgy Aseev. September 5, 2021 from the Nativity of Christ. Giving the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.