Love's Law
56. If love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Rom. 13:10), he who is full of rancor towards his neighbor and lays traps for him and curses him, exulting in his fall, must surely be a transgressor deserving eternal punishment.
St. Maximus the Confessor Four Hundred Centuries on Love: #56
In the symphony of divine commandments, love peals the sweetest of melodies: it speaks in consort with the discord notes of human frailty and directs the soul to higher elevations of sublimity—of goodness. "It is the golden chain which winds through the annals of sacred scripture, binding, with consistent continuity, the dictates of the law to the tender promptings of the heart.
Imagine a world where every action, every thought glistens with love. Imagine a world where kindness rules and forgiveness reaches out to all. Here, in this sphere of divine harmony, the soul feels more at home in the company of its brethren, and the ties of brotherhood are drawn deeper into the beyond of time and space.
Yet, in the confusion of human life, love is in numerous occasions hidden by rancor and malice. In the heart of one who is poisoned by bitterness, the light of love flickers dimly, overshadowed by the clouds of rancor and malice. And the hour of darkness is now preparing the true proof of faith: for all powers of the soul are then calling it to rise either to righteousness or to the gulf of eternal ruin.
In the teachings of St. Paul, we find a call to embrace the very potency of love: if love is the fulfilment of the law, surely any act of rancour or malice towards our neighbour is an act in betrayal of the very essence of divine commandment.
It's like a traveler over a laborious path, surrounded from all sides with snares and numerous potholes. In this adventurous life, love is a beacon through the haze; it leads and shows the way. If there was any darkness because of fear or lack of trust, it doesn't exist anymore. Love is what points the soul to its true north, a compass in hand that girds to face whatever the meanders of fate shall bring with courage and grace.
So let us go forward, listening to the words of Maximus, trying to embody in all the thoughts and actions of our life this thing called love. Then, let us shun the petty little animosities with all determination and let us follow the way of kindness and forgiveness. So, on the bottom line, love wins out, and it brings the soul to the divine grace that's without measure, where is allowed that eternal punishment shall pass, and peace is made perpetually.