One in particular.
Love...
What does that mean to you?
Has it ever meant anything to you?
Can you grasp the emotion of love or not?
How do you personally express love?
Did you parents know how to effectively model an emotion in love or was it something that was for 'behind closed doors, and only mummies and daddies knew about that'?
I personally have been through many forms of this 'love'.
I have been in a place of equating 'love' with 'sex'. How do you see 'love'?
There are, according to Wikki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Loves) four types of 'love' these are:
Storge - Affection
Affection (storge, στοργή) is fondness through familiarity, especially between family members or people who have otherwise found themselves together by chance. It is described as the most natural, emotive, and widely diffused of loves: natural in that it is present without coercion; emotive because it is the result of fondness due to familiarity; and most widely diffused because it pays the least attention to those characteristics deemed "valuable" or worthy of love and, as a result, is able to transcend most discriminating factors. Ironically, its strength is also what makes it vulnerable. Affection has the appearance of being "built-in" or "ready made", says Lewis, and as a result people come to expect, even to demand, its presence—irrespective of their behaviour and its natural consequences.
Phileo - Friendship
Friendship is a strong bond existing between people who share a common interest or activity. Lewis explicitly says that his definition of friendship is narrower than mere companionship:
Eros
Eros (ἔρως) is love in the sense of 'being in love'. This is distinct from sexuality, which Lewis calls Venus, although he does spend time discussing sexual activity and its spiritual significance in both a pagan and a Christian sense. He identifies eros as indifferent.
Agape - Charity
Charity (agapē, ἀγάπη) is the love that brings forth caring regardless of circumstance. Lewis recognises this as the greatest of loves, and sees it as a specifically Christian virtue. The chapter on the subject focuses on the need of subordinating the natural loves to the love of God, who is full of charitable love.
So how do we KNOW we are in 'love' or merely in 'lust'?
I love 'forever' or is that ideal sadly becoming a thing of the past in this throw-away society.
Can you 'love' someone through the tough times and the good? Or do you get a bit like a rat deserting a sinking ship?
"A friend in NEED is a friend INDEED" ever wondered about that saying? I take it to mean that a friend who is there when you REALLY NEED them is INDEED (or by their deeds/actions) a true friend.
Have you told your loved ones today how much you love them and appreciate them? Or are you caught in the mind set so often found "oh, they know I love them".. do they? Do they really KNOW you love them?
Our time here on this planet is limited. I am reminded of footage I saw of the Towers going down on 9/11. One scene showed a couple hand in hand free falling to their death.... they loved each other I guess so much that they didn't want to be separated in their last moments together.
I wonder what I would do if Paul were to leave this world before I did, or for that matter how he would feel if I left before him. Personally if I had things my way, I would rather the way of that couple, that hand in hand we leave this world together. This is my love for him and his for me, we could not bear to be apart.
Love is a strong emotion.
Remember today to tell those you love in which ever form, that you love them
Blessings
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