Lovingkindness meditation, or 'metta' (ancient Pali word for loving-kindness or friendliness), is a way of training the mind to be more loving and compassionate. The value of this is immense - a warmer, friendlier inner life and more skillful choices in the world. Technically, lovingkindness meditation uses phrases - language - as the vehicle of meditation. Buddhism provides traditional phrases that many people love, and we don't have to be limited by those phrases if they don't speak to us or if we want to try adding more personalized words.