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Written by Fr Mark Broadway, of Parish of Newton Nottage PorthcawlIf you listen to the same radio stations that I do, then you will be familiar with the Norwegian DJ Kygo. Perhaps you are not familiar with his work, but for the last year I’ve been singing along to his remix of Whitney Houston’s version of Steve Winwood’s 1986 hit song Higher Love. It has a catchy tune, and some thought-provoking lyrics.Think about it, there must be a higher love Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above Without it, life is wasted time Look inside your heart, and I'll look inside mineThere must be a higher love. Really? Must there be?I wonder if this is a question that has ever crossed your mind? For Christians, the answer is a resounding “yes”. DJ Kygo and Whitney have, perhaps by accident, hit upon a rich seam of philosophy and theology. What they sing about yearning for in romantic relationships, a Higher Love, thinkers argued exists objectively in the world; but Christians have come to understand that this Higher Love is a person: Jesus Christ.

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That the universe is governed by a higher principle is a thought that has appeared in a range of world philosophies. After centuries of discourse, the Ancient Greeks gave us the idea that there was a Principle, which governed all things, they called it the Logos.St John, in the Christian Tradition, tells us that this Logos was in the beginning with God, and was indeed God; and moreover that this Logos, or in English this Word, was born a man Jesus. In the first letter that bears his name he tells us:Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.– 1 John 4:7-12Think about it, there must be a higher love Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above Without it, life is wasted time Look inside your heart, and I'll look inside mine- Steve Winwood, 1986Kygo and Whitney are right, there is a Higher Love – but, I’m afraid we won’t find it either in the stars above, nor in the depths of our heart; unless we find it first in God’s love made manifest: Jesus Christ.