Love
What does the word “love” mean to you? We could describe it in many different ways. We could attempt to define it by setting forth what it is not. Or we could try to define it by seeking descriptive phrases from the bible. Finally we could set out expressive words showering it in a positive light. This short story on love will use a little of all three methods. We know “love” is some sort of relationship, bond, rapport or connection between two objects. We as humans are classified as animals in the animal kingdom as opposed to the other living things, plants. (All life is either plants or animals.) Life is the particular flora and fauna of a particular place and time. Can plants exhibit love? I would think not. Does only animal life exhibit love? We must conclude that only animal life can exhibit love because love is based on emotional and rational thought or experience. Non-living objects surely cannot love. An automobile cannot love its tires for example. But can grasshoppers love each other? Surely a momma cat has some type of affection for her baby kittens. There must exist some emotion or empathy between the mother cat and her kittens. Can we then conclude that non rational animals, animals other than humans like cats, love? Is the natural instinct of a mother cat for grooming, herding and feeding her offspring to be considered love? I think love goes beyond the natural, innate responses by animals within the animal kingdom in nature. It seems to me that love requires rational thought, which animals, other than humans, do not possess. A momma gorilla will protect her young from outside danger, but does she love her young like a human mother loves her newborn? Possibly, since some human mothers show a complete lack of affection for their babies. We still have abortions and adoptions. Pregnant mothers smoke, drink and use drugs during pregnancy. But love requires rational thought. These aforementioned described actions by rational creatures are irrational. So can we conclude then that love is a positive, spiritual act of rational consciousness toward another object?
Let’s leave the discussion of love with regard to plants and the lower animals and concentrate on human beings. To begin, we know that God loves unconditionally, omnipotently, eternally and all those other descriptive words we can invoke. Humans cannot and do not love like God loves. Human love is imperfect and it exist in degrees, not degrees with regard to temperature but in regard to amount or capacity. And human love must be directed to another object, either an animate or inanimate object. For example I can love my dog and my wife. Or I could love money or my car or my hobby or profession. But can I really “love” an inanimate object? The bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. But can I really love money? I can be overpowered, self-absorbed and driven by an irrational desire to acquire money but can humans really love an inanimate object? Humans might be driven by a desire for inanimate objects but that desire is not really love. Such a desire is an ill placed emotion, a defective passion, sensation or feeling clouded with misplaced feelings. It is impossible for humans to love an inanimate object. Further I can love my dog, Theodore, but would such affection be a proper description of love if Theodore cannot love me back since he lacks rational thought?
To me, to love is to be loved. Love requires reciprocity, a mutual exchange. But an exchange of what? Love? We cannot use a word to describe itself. The Greeks used three words to describe love: agape, eros, and philia. Agape means the love of God for man and of man for God. It referred to feelings for one's children and the feelings for a spouse. Thomas Aquinas explained it as "to will the good of another.” Philia was used as an affectionate regard or friendship, usually between equals. Eros was used to describe the sexual passion, a basic human desire. You have heard this story before. Christ asked Peter twice, “Do you agape me?” Peter responded twice, “Yes Lord, I philia you.” Christ, in His desperation, had to settle for philia love from Peter the third time when He asked Peter, “do you philia me?” So love does exist in degrees.
So let’s look at our definition so far. Love is a positive, spiritual act of rational consciousness between at least two human beings. Note I described love as spiritual. Love is not a physical act. In other words, sexual gratification is not love. The sexual act may be a response to love, or in the opposite extreme, a response to innate physical reproductive drive, but mere sexual intercourse is not love. Therefore love is based upon an experience on a rational existence on a higher plane beyond the physical world. In other words, love is a thought or physical encounter which produces a sensation that transcends this world. And love is alive. It requires rational consciousness. Both parties must be conscious of this sensation and it must be exchanged but not necessarily equally. Can I love one person more than the other loves me? Absolutely. I think my wife use to love me much more than I loved her. Now, we probably love each other on an equal plane, unfortunately hers decreased but fortunately mine increased. Love requires awareness. Surely I cannot love or be loved if I am not aware of the others sentiment. Love is a complete and total giving of self to another and an acknowledgment of this surrender between the parties. God commands that we love our neighbor as our self. Isn’t that difficult? How do we even know we love our own self? Some people really hate themselves. They are into cutting or drugs or even suicide. Remember love within humans is never perfect. Love is an emotion which must be developed. We develop it by seeking and knowing the perfect love, that of God’s love. And this reaction from another and feeling toward another, which is shared, must be positive. Love can never be based on negative sentiment. It is peaceful, tranquil, non-judgmental, conscientious and empathetic. So if I do decide that I love myself, how do I love my neighbor if my neighbor does not return the same positive sentiment to me? Or to take matters further, what if my neighbor does not return any feeling at all. This begs the question, does love require an exchange. If I do love my neighbor as myself, but my neighbor does not love me at all, then have I achieved divine love, the love which God displays to us? When we love our neighbor as our self, we are loved by God. Therein lies the reciprocity. We exchange our love with humanity and God exchanges His love with His created. Humans can never return the same love to neighbor and God as God showers upon us but we are to love Him with as much human fortitude as possible and love our neighbor as our self. Therefore, love is an exchanged positive, spiritual act of explicit rational consciousness which results in a complete and total giving of self to the other and God.
True love leads to peace, joy and happiness in this world with self and neighbor and to perfection in the next with God. “If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Cor. 13:1-13. Love is the one constant in this universe that can never fail. It is the medium by which a depraved humanity is suspended on a rational plane. It is the fuel that sustains human life within a tumultuous natural environment. Love is the building blocks of a rational psyche. Love impedes depravity such that humanity remains rational. Love supports and sustains the soul as food and water nourishes the body. A human must experience the love of another human. Only then can he comprehend, accept and cherish the love of God.
Let’s leave the discussion of love with regard to plants and the lower animals and concentrate on human beings. To begin, we know that God loves unconditionally, omnipotently, eternally and all those other descriptive words we can invoke. Humans cannot and do not love like God loves. Human love is imperfect and it exist in degrees, not degrees with regard to temperature but in regard to amount or capacity. And human love must be directed to another object, either an animate or inanimate object. For example I can love my dog and my wife. Or I could love money or my car or my hobby or profession. But can I really “love” an inanimate object? The bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. But can I really love money? I can be overpowered, self-absorbed and driven by an irrational desire to acquire money but can humans really love an inanimate object? Humans might be driven by a desire for inanimate objects but that desire is not really love. Such a desire is an ill placed emotion, a defective passion, sensation or feeling clouded with misplaced feelings. It is impossible for humans to love an inanimate object. Further I can love my dog, Theodore, but would such affection be a proper description of love if Theodore cannot love me back since he lacks rational thought?
To me, to love is to be loved. Love requires reciprocity, a mutual exchange. But an exchange of what? Love? We cannot use a word to describe itself. The Greeks used three words to describe love: agape, eros, and philia. Agape means the love of God for man and of man for God. It referred to feelings for one's children and the feelings for a spouse. Thomas Aquinas explained it as "to will the good of another.” Philia was used as an affectionate regard or friendship, usually between equals. Eros was used to describe the sexual passion, a basic human desire. You have heard this story before. Christ asked Peter twice, “Do you agape me?” Peter responded twice, “Yes Lord, I philia you.” Christ, in His desperation, had to settle for philia love from Peter the third time when He asked Peter, “do you philia me?” So love does exist in degrees.
So let’s look at our definition so far. Love is a positive, spiritual act of rational consciousness between at least two human beings. Note I described love as spiritual. Love is not a physical act. In other words, sexual gratification is not love. The sexual act may be a response to love, or in the opposite extreme, a response to innate physical reproductive drive, but mere sexual intercourse is not love. Therefore love is based upon an experience on a rational existence on a higher plane beyond the physical world. In other words, love is a thought or physical encounter which produces a sensation that transcends this world. And love is alive. It requires rational consciousness. Both parties must be conscious of this sensation and it must be exchanged but not necessarily equally. Can I love one person more than the other loves me? Absolutely. I think my wife use to love me much more than I loved her. Now, we probably love each other on an equal plane, unfortunately hers decreased but fortunately mine increased. Love requires awareness. Surely I cannot love or be loved if I am not aware of the others sentiment. Love is a complete and total giving of self to another and an acknowledgment of this surrender between the parties. God commands that we love our neighbor as our self. Isn’t that difficult? How do we even know we love our own self? Some people really hate themselves. They are into cutting or drugs or even suicide. Remember love within humans is never perfect. Love is an emotion which must be developed. We develop it by seeking and knowing the perfect love, that of God’s love. And this reaction from another and feeling toward another, which is shared, must be positive. Love can never be based on negative sentiment. It is peaceful, tranquil, non-judgmental, conscientious and empathetic. So if I do decide that I love myself, how do I love my neighbor if my neighbor does not return the same positive sentiment to me? Or to take matters further, what if my neighbor does not return any feeling at all. This begs the question, does love require an exchange. If I do love my neighbor as myself, but my neighbor does not love me at all, then have I achieved divine love, the love which God displays to us? When we love our neighbor as our self, we are loved by God. Therein lies the reciprocity. We exchange our love with humanity and God exchanges His love with His created. Humans can never return the same love to neighbor and God as God showers upon us but we are to love Him with as much human fortitude as possible and love our neighbor as our self. Therefore, love is an exchanged positive, spiritual act of explicit rational consciousness which results in a complete and total giving of self to the other and God.
True love leads to peace, joy and happiness in this world with self and neighbor and to perfection in the next with God. “If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Cor. 13:1-13. Love is the one constant in this universe that can never fail. It is the medium by which a depraved humanity is suspended on a rational plane. It is the fuel that sustains human life within a tumultuous natural environment. Love is the building blocks of a rational psyche. Love impedes depravity such that humanity remains rational. Love supports and sustains the soul as food and water nourishes the body. A human must experience the love of another human. Only then can he comprehend, accept and cherish the love of God.
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