Human love usually has a particular focus: a person, a place, a shared history. Its tenderness and generosity are real. So, often, are the expectations that accompany it—the wish to be understood, the fear of loss, or the need to be loved in return.

Divine love seems less dependent on these conditions. In the moments I recognise, it does not wait for circumstances to suit me. Nor does it seem to arise from my judgement that someone or something deserves to be loved. There is a freedom from personal preference that makes the experience feel quite different from my ordinary emotions.