Divine love

Love demands sacrifice, hard work, devotion, and even pain. Think about it—really and deeply. Give yourself a pause alone, in the way you prefer, with the light, place, and drink of your choice. Water counts as well.

Now, that doesn’t mean you have to suffer. Realize that, in the end, love doesn’t want your life—the physical one—but it claims your soul, because that’s the only way you truly enter its realm.

No need to answer here. Keep it for yourself. I honestly believe that everyone on this earth—even the most hideous people—has one, possibly the mirror, whether they know it, accept it, or not.

Alegoría de la Caridad, Francisco de Zurbarán, Ca. 1655

But I’m not writing this to pretend to be a psychologist or psychiatrist. However, for centuries it was believed that love resides in the heart—the organ. Thanks to neuroscience, we now know that it happens in the brain and the neuronal system, with a physical effect on the heart.

Beyond this reflection, I share with you a thought: Francisco de Zurbarán made a thesis about misbelief and neuroscience. He proved, semiotically, that “divine love” happens in the soul and the metaphysical empire.

Working around Catholic mysteries, he postulated—at least for me—his best synthesis in Alegoría de la Caridad, an interpretation of what is called amor divino, the love of God.

You can agree or disagree with me.All I ask is that, while you remember your beloved ones, you think about your physical and ethereal heart, inflamed by your love for them.

Divine love