[534] reunion with that from which it is separated by its self-relatedness and by the estrangement in our actual existence. But now I jump to the third level immediately from here, and come later back to the second, namely to the level of the concrete situation^a, of the uniqueness of the moment, or--- as I called it---of the kairos. Love^b is the ultimate principle of all ethical action. To understand this we must first of all remove a wrong concept of love, namely love as emotion. If love is defined as emotion, then all I have said is nonsense---and not only relative nonsense, but absolute nonsense !

[some laughter] If love is what it REALLY is, namely the drive towards the reunion of the separated, then everything I have said and WILL say has at least a possible truth. The relationship of love to emotion is---like the relationship of everything which is constitutive for human existence--- every function and act of man's mind and body, namely the emotional accompanies it, and accompanies it to the degree to which the whole of our being is involved. It is WITH it; it is CONNECTED with it; but it is not IDENTICAL with it. The companion is not the matter itself. The MORE the TOTAL personality is involved, the more emotional awareness is given. And since there is nothing in which so much of our total being is involved as in faith^c---as ultimate concern---and love as the drive towards reunion; in these two the emotional element is extremely strong. But this doesn't mean that the

emotional element is IN lTSELF love or faith. This is one of the comfortable things in which people who want to REMOVE the fundamental religious concepts are EASILY able to push religion into a corner in which it has not very much consequences. So I must unfortunately close in the middle of this consideration. But keep in mind the three levels: the level of love^d, the level of wisdom^e, and the level of the concrete situation^f. And understand love as I think it MUST be understood: as the drive toward the reunion of the separated. And then next time we will continue with respect to the two other levels.