Not to have, but to be had
So the divine love is sacrificial love. Love does not mean to have and to own and to possess. It means to be had and to be owned and to be possessed. It is not a circle circumscribed by self; it is arms outstretched to embrace all humanity within its grasp. No other love is ever going to be a satisfying love. All that we ever get in this world anyway is just a fragment, a fraction of love. We can catch a spark; it is caught up from the great white flame of love which is God. That's all we ever get. And if, to remind us of another love, the spark is so bright, then what must be the flame? It's the cross; it's self denial, it's victimhood, for this is the gospel of Christ, and we cannot soften him. He is the one who gave his life, and that's the way he measures his love. Greater love than this no man has. When we stay close to that love, day after day, hour after hour, others will begin to feel that love.