Me on Rumi on Love

I love my friends neither with my heart nor with my mind.
Just in case…
Heart might stop. Mind can forget.
I love them with my soul.
Soul never stops or forgets.

--Rumi--

Love this. So clear so specific but I have to admit I disagree with Rumi, as hard as it is to do so. It is not that I do not love my friends with my soul because I do. Rather it is that I love my friends also with my heart and mind despite their imperfections. I disagree with Rumi because his love is insufficient. The soul’s love, as expansive and amazing as it is, is just not enough.

I love my friends with my heart because my heart was made to love. That is simple and easy. I cannot help loving my friends with my heart … it is how I was made.

I also love my friends with my mind. As I think of my friends, as I perceive friendship; I feel the emotion of love. As a result of my thoughts and perceptions, I act towards my friends with love. The memories I have shared and created with my friends fill me with the emotion of love. The knowledge I have of friendship as applied to my friends fills my imagination with love.  My mind fills with thoughts of love and as a result, I reason that I love my friends.

But, as Rumi says, “Heart might stop. Mind can forget.” So, in addition to the love I feel for my friends with my mind and my heart, I love my friends with my soul. The soul is the essential part of me, the spirit of me, and the part of me that survives after death. In loving my friends with my soul, my love will continue long after my heart stops or my mind forgets. When I am old and dotty and can’t remember my name, when my heart is weak and needs help to function, I will still remember my friends in my spirit and I will love them. When my body gives out and my heart and mind stop, my love for my friends will still exist in them and in the energy that is love … and that love will transcend time. That is the essence of friendship … to love another with one’s heart and mind … and soul.