Over the years, in attempting to define or redefine love, Ive filled whole notebooks. Ive said that love, at best, is giving what you need to get, that it is tied about the throats of cats, now near, now sounding far away, and that it doesnt matter who you love or how you love, but that you love. But I love, therefore I am is too simple. We may be lifted on high by love, but to stay there we must continue to care for what we left below, remembering that it is not only possible but necessary to share our newfound love.
It may be that we have used the word love so much that its meaning has become obscured. The dictionary tell us that love is (1) the profoundly tender or passionate affection for a person of the opposite sex; (2) a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend; (3) a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart; (4) affectionate concern for the well-being of others; (5) strong predilection or liking for anything; (6) the object or thing so liked; and, finally, (7) the benevolent affection of God for His creatures, or the reverent affection due God for them. Despite the dictionarys many definitions, love is both more and less than the descriptions of those who do our thinking for us.
The supply of love will never exceed the demand, but it should. Love is an attitude, and one for which we should not stray far in our actions toward ourselves and toward others. The word peace is so often coupled with love that sometimes the two words seem synonymous. Love is tranquility. But it can also be the height of excitement, or, when one feels unloved, the depth of depression. Most of all, love is another word for sharing. If you go into the day and beyond the day with love in mind, then you are probably as close to God as you can ever hope to be.
To love, you need not even be two. Alone, you can love and love honestly; but if you expect a return on your investment, the surest way to guarantee it is to love your God, Who will teach you to love yourself. Only then will you be capable of loving yet another. The woman or the man who complains that she or he, while loving, gave everything and received nothing in return, has not stepped through loves doorway. It is not possible to love someone or something fully and not to be in receipt of more than you have given.
Few of us are ready to love anyone else - even God - until we learn to know and love ourselves. That isnt easy, and it shouldnt be. It is difficult both to love that much, and - seemingly - that little. - James Philip Pegg
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