Act on Love 

By Leon Campbell

For many years I wore a happy mask to hide my underlying low self-esteem. As a young man growing up in the projects of Chicago, I internalized the negative images I saw in my environment, which affected every area of my life. Then one day, having grown tired of living in the midst of self-hate and poverty, I heard a voice say, “this will not be your life; your life will be lived far away from here.” After hearing this, my life changed.  I began to see a new confidence emerge within myself, and gradually, my life started to improve. I came to realize that I was not a victim of my environment or circumstance.

I then began to look within myself, through spiritual study, meditation, and affirmative prayer. I started to feel that God both loves and needs me. I saw that I was vitally important to everything in the Universe, and that I was an intrinsic part of Life.

I also saw that my awareness of Love was way too small.  Love is much more than just our personal possessions or relationships. Love is in everyone, is in everything, and is everywhere.  Its evidence shows up as the air we breathe, the healing of our bodies, and the unconditional Oneness that holds everything together.

One of the principles we teach at Agape is that every person is an individualized expression of God. Every person is made in the image and likeness of God, and is capable of awakening to this realization and giving expression to the qualities of unconditional Love, compassion, wisdom, bliss, peace and creativity.

Today I invite you to create what you want to see in the world, and allow the Love to flow like never before!

The Practice: Today, go out and perform anonymous acts of Love without using money. Here are some ideas to contemplate:

• Place a love note on someone’s door
• Bring your gently-used clothing and/or blankets to areas you know where people who are homeless congregate
• Choose two news stories from the newspaper or television and pray for that situation. If you are so inspired, you can pray for 7 days.