Mantalk: The Virtue (Property) of Love Revisited
by Eric Henderson
The Dictionary defines love as a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness. It states that love is also a feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair, the emotion of sex and romance. I have learned a few more things about love.
Love is permanent, it cannot be turned on and off like a light switch.
Love is an active force, meaning that love is like faith, you can't have it unless you use it.
Speaking about love is not having love.
Love acts and reacts to the love of others.
Love gives without looking for a return.
Love does not quit.
Love uses wisdom.
Love communicates.
Love replicates.
Love stimulates.
Love instigates.
Love nutures.
Love builds up.
Love can break it down.
Love can guides you through the mountain.
Love will guide you through the valley.
Love enjoys the flavor of instruction.
Love is Permanent.
Love doesn't hate.
Love doesn't envy.
Love doesn't accept marginal effort.
Love sees beyond the crowd to see the person.
Love creates ways to express itself.
Love is passion with directive.
Love is power directed at a needed receptacle.
Love helps you sing.
Love changes sex to something worth maintaining.
Love is tender and deep.
Love is God's gift to us. Jesus is the physical manifestation of that Love.
Love is a tool that accomplishes good will toward men.
Love can also motivate the destruction of an enemy.
Love is the hot topic of the day.
Love is still the least understood property of human life.
Love is highly studied and pondered.
Love can make you do strange things, but those things are usually in your best interest.
Love extends grace.
I was thinking about why I love, every reason that I could try to use was false. I could not use looks, what if she was disfigured in a car accident, Would I love her less? I could not use money, what if she spent it all, would I love her any less? I could not use her ability to cook, suppose she didn't want to cook today, would I love her any less?
I could not use sex. I love having sex, but I would get bored with the same person day in and out, do I love her any less? After reviewing many other things that I find appealing and not so appealing, it occurred to me. The dictionary was wrong in several ways. It used the word "ineffable" which means incapable of being expressed. The truth is that love is easily expressed, but impossible to define.
If you can define why you love, then you have found a limit to a limitless property. The dictionary also failed by calling it a feeling. The truth is that love goes far beyond feeling. You can love someone without feeling love. People love their spouses even when the mess up. People love their children when the make bad grades. People even love their cars even when they break down. The term "feeling" has the connotation of temporary existence, which is antithetical to love.
In essence, let love rule and you will be rewarded.
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