March 30, 2001


Hello Mark,

In your last letter you asked for me to define LOVE. My reply is that I can't define it. It is all too encompassing. It is too broad, too deep, too profound and too impossible to ever fully define it. If one were to try to define LOVE all the world could not hold the books that would be needed to begin to define it. The meaning of LOVE extends to the highest heavens and all that they hold. However, we can start with the good that we do for others. We can speak of the kindness and gentleness of LOVE that shines from out of our hearts and expresses itself in empathy for all of creation. We can look upon the eyes of Christ in Rudolf Steiner's sculpture 'The Group' and know and understand as he said that the eyes express deep compassion for the world and humanity and that we are look at the world with the same compassion and empathy. The LOVE that are behind those eyes is the LOVE that eventually we create within ourselves through our own sufferings which are seeds for the forces of LOVE. It is a LOVE that in the most silent of meditative work one moves one's thoughts through the world and perceives the sufferings of death, war, starvation,disease, loneliness, neglect, abuse, cruelty etc. and brings them into one's self and works them into one's soul and then pours out the reversal of it with the deepest feelings of warmth to all who suffer in this world. This would also include the earth itself. This would be the LOVE that we direct back to Christ.

Mark, I have included some passages and chapters from the New Testament which I feel give good descriptions of understanding the germinal seeds of LOVE; the germinal seeds of the Christ Impulse. They are:

Matthew/ chapters: 5,6 & 7

Luke/ chapter 6: 17-49

Romans/ chapter 12

1 Corinthians/ chapter 13

Galatians/ chapter 5: 13-26

Collosians/ chapter 3 and chapter 4: 1-6

1 Thessalonians/ chapter 5: 12-28

Hebrews/ chapter 13

James/ chapters 1-5

1 Peter/ chapter 3: 8-17



I think I'll end here. Hope to hear from you soon.

Peace be with you Mark.

Sincerely,

Rick Distasi