You Are Love

by Shelley Barchanowitz Goldberg

Acceptance, non-judgement, respect, compassion
kindness, gratitude, forgiveness for self and others.

Many years ago as we sat on a bench under a broad cyprus tree in Santa Fe during a chant retreat, my friend Shelley shared this chant with me. She chooses to see the world through the eyes of Love and has expressed it by giving out bracelets with the words “You are Love”. So far she has gifted 75,000. As her journey continued she asked herself, “Exactly what is LOVE?” and “What are the qualities one needs in order to experience true love for one another and within themselves?”

She said this chant came to her as a wordless melody and then realized it was awaiting these words. In the beginning, I thought the reference to “self and others” was only about forgiveness, but in fact, she has told me all the traits are for ourselves and others. It is an ongoing awareness and practice.

May this chant help us fulfill the main teaching of the Torah, namely to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). May you be blessed with this self love.

 

To download the audio file, right-click (or Control-click) the following link and choose the option to save/download the file: Download Link »