The Three Chords of Love

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” — Matt. xxii. 37.

There are three kinds of love — perhaps rather I should say, three instruments on which love plays. It may manifest itself through the heart, through the soul, or through the mind. My love for you may be either practical, admiring, or communing. The love of the heart is practical; it ministers in common things. The love of the soul is admiration; it looks upon a far-off glory and longs to be near it. The love of the mind is communion; it has touched a point of equality with its object; it can listen and respond. A mother’s love for her child is that of the heart; it is helpful. A poet’s love for Nature is that of the soul; it is wondering, admiring. A friend’s love for a friend is that of the mind; it is intellectual sympathy — communion. I think our love for God plays successively each of these tunes. We begin with the heart; we say, ‘’ Our Father “; we try to work for our Father. By-and-by the vision of wonder The Three Chords of Love

breaks upon us — the love of the soul; we bow with admiration before the mysteries of the universe. At last comes the glad morning — the love of the mind; we begin to know God — to commune with Him, to speak with Him face to face as a man speaketh with his friend. That is the manhood of our love.

My God, I long to reach this third stage — this summer of my pilgrimage. I have seen Thee as a child sees its father; it was a sweet feeling, yet it was a feeling of dependence — it did not bring me quite near Thee. I have seen Thee again as the poet sees his promised land of beauty; it was a grand vision, yet it was a vision which dwarfed the passing day, which overshadowed the common hour. I want more than that. I want to feel Thee by my side, to walk with Thee, to talk with Thee. I may love with the heart where I have no communion of mind; I may love with the soul where I have imperfect communion of mind; but to love with the mind is to understand. Not my sense of dependence is Thy deepest joy; not my gaze of wonder is Thy brightest sunshine. The love that lights Thee most is the love that can understand Thee — the love of the mind. I would be called no more servant, but friend. Hitherto I have been content to receive Thy protection; but 65 E that will not break Thy solitude. If I am always to be a child, there will be no companionship for Thee. Shalt Thou tread the winepress alone — with none to understand Thee! Shall Thy Gethsemane hour have only my pity, only my wonder! I have seen a child weep for its father’s pain without knowing why its father grieved; it was the love of the heart, but not yet the love of the mind. Not so would I come into Thy Garden, O God. I would come to comprehend Thee, to know Thee, to appreciate Thee. I would forget my dependence. I would rise into Thy fellowship. Thy communion. I would cease to follow; I would walk side by side. I would share Thy burden; I would adopt Thy name; I would assimilate Thine accent; I would appropriate Thy cause. Give me this final love, this mental love, O Lord; for he that loves Thee with the mmd loves Thee also with the heart and with the soul.