10:5.20 And yet we cannot sink ourselves
into any other’s being
to the exclusion of our self,
except for moments we know as right.
10:5.21 Against those crucial times of right
were we to act and feel remote
in favor of ourselves not them,
we break the bond of love for good.
10:5.22 And how do we redeem ourselves
when we have lost our soul for self,
when we forsook the one we love
in his or her desperate need?
10:5.23 Rather lose our life than our love
than break the bond of humanity;
and if we do, we live as dead;
however we smile and carry on.
10:5.24 It is a stigma impressed so deep
that if we cannot redeem ourselves,
all else we do however grand
is naught to us but sifting sands.
10:5.25 Having committed that mortal wrong
of deserting another in mortal need,
either in body or in mind,
all other gestures of love are in vain.
10:5.26 Not all will understand such angst,
nor will feel it if guilty themselves
but for those who know what I mean,
nurture love to transcend yourself.
10:5.27 And does this not accord with Christ’s
no greater love has man for man
than that he lay his life down for him;
and failing this there is little love.
10:8 Behind the veil of civility;
the engaging smile, the calm stance;
beneath respectability,
lies crazed and bloodshot jealousy.
10:8.1 Welcome strife and you welcome love.
Welcome strife and you welcome pain.
Welcome pain for the sake of love,
and you transform pain to pleasure.
10:8.2 If you live in mind of love and strife,
to guide you through your daily life;
no other guide will serve you as well;
for then you live the play of life.
10:8.1 But first you have to know them well:
that love is more than just concord
that strife is more than just discord;
and that both reside deep in your mind.
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8:23 Live for love and live to love
and all else will be given you;
and in your love know that you shine
amidst the dark of life’s shadows.
8:23.1 When love is not returned
by those from whom it should,
love turns upon itself inside
and feeds upon its carrion.
The Love Testament 