Part I
As everyone knows, love is a big subject. How to lead in any capacity is also a big topic and I am merging them together in ‘How to lead with love.’ Most of us are familiar with love on various levels. Some, however, did not know love from birth or have attachment disorder or other estrangement conditions. The latter would be a topic for another article. For this one I am going from the assumption that the reader has some inkling of what love is about.
I will begin with the definition of love from the online Oxford Dictionary:
1. an intense feeling of deep affection.
“Babies fill parents with feelings of love”
2. a great interest and pleasure in something.
“His love for football”
Since there is more to this than one can see with their own eyes, metaphysically speaking, here is the meaning of love from the Unity teachings.
The metaphysical meaning of love is as follows:
The pure essence of Being that binds together the whole human family… Love is an inner quality that sees good everywhere and in everybody. It insists that all is good, and by refusing to see anything but good it causes that quality finally to appear uppermost in itself, and in all things.
Love is the great harmonizer and healer. Whoever calls on God as Holy Spirit for healing is calling on divine love. Divine love will bring your own to you, adjust all misunderstandings, and make your life and affairs healthy, happy, harmonious, and free, “Love therefore is the fulfilment of the law” (Rom. 13:10).1
Love is a divine attribute; it is an idea in the one Mind. God is love and love is God, or a quality in Being. The difference between divine love and human love is that divine love is broad and unlimited, a universal and harmonizing power. Human love is based on personality and is selfish, lawless, and fickle.2
I will use this definition for ‘Lead’:
1. the initiative in an action; an example for others to follow.
“the US is now taking the environmental lead“
In the Unity teachings, Jesus is our Brother and Way-shower, not a God that is worshipped. We endeavor to follow in his footsteps through his example and teachings. He, in my opinion and others, taught us about unconditional love. Loving without an expectation of being loved in return.
Now that masks aren’t a requirement except in Doctor’s offices or if one has a type of immune disorder, I am grateful to see a person’s whole face. It’s easier to connect. One day leaving Home Depot, I was ‘smiling hi’ at people passing me who were going into the store. I had no expectation or condition that they had to smile back. This one woman smiled in response to my smile and then smiled a bigger smile. It was as if to say “hey, I like this!”
This is just a simple way of ‘Leading with Love.’ My definition of leading with love, is leading with unconditional love or loving without putting conditions on it or necessarily having it returned.
Stay tuned for Part II next week for as the saying goes, ‘where the rubber meets the road,’ where it isn’t as easy as the first example I gave. I will also address the metaphysical definitions more.
I invite you to try ‘smiling hi.’
Rev Airin
1 pp 124-125, The Revealing Word, Charles Fillmore, 1988 Edition, Unity
2 p 406, Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, Charles Fillmore, compiled by Unity School of Christianity, 1931
Meta Moments 