Dear Reader,
This morning I was reminded of a simple but profound truth. A friend sent me a line from Rumi, the great Sufi poet: “Love is the bridge between you and everything.” Those words stayed with me, and I responded with my own reflection: Love is not just an emotion, but a connecting principle that binds us to people, the world, and the divine.
William Blake, the English poet, once wrote: “And we are put on earth a little space, that we may learn to bear the beams of love.” His image is powerful: divine love shines like sunlight, sometimes so bright it is hard to receive. Yet our earthly journey is, in many ways, learning to open our hearts enough to live within God’s radiant love.
God’s Divine Love Is More Than Emotion
The Apostle John tells us simply: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). This means love is not something God merely shows — it is His very nature. As modern scholar N. T. Wright puts it: “The central claim of the Christian faith is that God’s love was made visible in Jesus Christ.” Divine love is woven into creation itself: in the beauty of the earth, in the bonds of family and friendship, and in the still, small voice that whispers peace to our souls.
In recovery, we learn this lesson firsthand. Step 11 reminds us that prayer and meditation draw us closer to our Higher Power, and through that connection we find strength to love and serve others. Love, when rooted in God, becomes the bridge that restores broken relationships, heals wounded hearts, and gives new purpose to life.
The Book of Mormon on Divine Love
The Book of Mormon bears powerful testimony of God’s love. Moroni teaches: “Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47). This is not a fleeting feeling; it is the eternal, steady love of the Savior that never fails. Nephi also assures us: “The Lord God will consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain” (2 Nephi 2:2). In other words, even our struggles can become bridges to His love, if we allow Him to transform them.
Bearing the Beams of Love in Our Day
Modern prophets and apostles echo these truths. President Thomas S. Monson once said: “Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland reminded us: “However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made... I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love.”
These voices remind us that divine love is infinite and personal. It meets us where we are — in joy, in sorrow, in repentance, and in service — and lifts us higher.
Our Calling: To Cross the Bridge
If Rumi is right, then love is the bridge that connects us to heaven and earth. Through prayer, we cross that bridge to commune with God. Through service, we cross it to connect with our neighbors. Through gratitude, we cross it to embrace creation. And through repentance, we cross it to return to the Savior’s open arms.
Our task is not to build the bridge — it already exists. Our task is to step onto it, day by day, learning to walk in God’s love, and learning, as Blake said, to “bear the beams of love.”
Closing Thought
Dear friend, may you come to see that divine love surrounds you even now. It is not earned by your worthiness nor withdrawn by your weakness. It is simply who God is. And as we live in that love, it connects heaven and earth, and transforms us into instruments of His grace.
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