“Net zoals je leert lopen door te lopen en leert spreken door te spreken. Zo leer je lief te hebben door lief te hebben. Naastenliefde groeit door je medemens steeds meer lief te hebben.” Deze woorden uit de Meditatie bij de volle maan van mei troffen mij in het bijzonder. Natuurlijk ken ik de uitdrukking ‘oefening baart kunst’ maar deze woorden gaven nieuw leven aan die uitspraak. De vergelijking met leren lopen en leren spreken maakt leren liefhebben namelijk tot iets ‘dagelijks’, heel dichtbij en gewoon. Liefhebben kan je oefenen en dat leidt tot meer liefde, tot meer liefhebben, tot gemeenschap. De ochtend na de meditatie viel mijn oog op de tekst ‘Love Deeply’ uit The Inner Voice of Love van Henri Nouwen. Wat mij betreft een prachtige uitwerking van dit thema:
“Do not hesitate to love deeply. You might be afraid of the pain that deep love can cause. When those you love deeply reject you, leave you or die, your heart will be broken. But that should not hold you back from loving deeply. The pain that comes from deep love makes your love ever more fruitful. It is like a plough that breaks the ground to allow the seed to take root and grow into a strong plant. Every time you experience the pain of rejection, absence, or death, you are faced with a choice. You can become bitter and decide not to love again, or you can stand straight in your pain and let the soil on which you stand become richer and more able to give life to new seeds.
The more you have loved and have allowed yourself to suffer because of your love, the more you will be able to let your heart grow wider and deeper. When your love is truly giving and receiving, those whom you love will not leave your heart even when they depart from you. The will become part of yourself and thus gradually build a community within you.
Those you have deeply loved become part of you. The longer you live, there will always be more people to be loved by you and to become part of your inner community. The wider your inner community becomes, the more easily you will recognize your own brothers and sisters in the strangers around you. Those who are alive within you will recognize those who are alive around you. The wider the community of your heart, the wider the community around you. Thus the pain of rejection, absence and death become fruitful. Yes, as you love deeply the ground of your heart will be broken more and more, but you will rejoice in the abundance of the fruit it will bear.”
