Who can explain love? L-O-V-E … Is love that junior high twitter-pation you experience when sitting across the lunch table from him/her? Is it that crazy weak-kneed feeling you get while dancing with your prom date? Or maybe the head-spinning breathlessness on your wedding day as you gaze down the aisle into the eyes of your future spouse? Maybe it’s all the above? Or none of the above? What is love?
When someone possesses the figurative key to your heart (beautifully illustrated above), you’re likely to experience a host of emotions, even contradictory emotions. Doomed … when your love seems to go unrequited. Blissful … when your loved one loves you back. Inconsolable … when something unforeseen has happened to your loved one. You may well face an emotional roller coaster whenever love is involved.
Conduct a basic web search (I use Duck-Duck-Go) for the question “What Is Love?” and you’ll find lots of pertinent entries, knowledgable resources which attempt to define the aspects of L-O-V-E from a variety of angles. Interestingly, the first search result puzzled and amused me. (I offer a screen capture below.)
Names of both the author and the fact-checker have been redacted and I’ve omitted a clickable link to the site … but honestly, is it really necessary to fact-check a post entitled What Is Love? Further, how does one determine the factual basis for statements made about emotions which are as individually understood as love is? Most people would agree love (like Jello) can’t be nailed down to conform like an ordinary (yet complex) mathematical formula. Is the notion of a fact-check (as well as the signature of a purportedly authoritative fact-checker) the latest iteration of a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval? Or just another ridiculous manifestation of the Twilight Zone existence that has become our status quo?
Unless you’re willing to roll the dice, you should probably bypass much of the worldwide web as a reliable source when you’re looking to understand L-O-V-E. I’m reminded of Johnny Lee’s old song: Lookin’ for Love. Of course, the songwriter admits to “lookin’ for love in all the wrong places.” Indeed, when lookin’ for love, dead ends occur more than we’d like.
Instead of www.wisdom (not an actual website), consider John 15:13 where Jesus Christ states: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” In all of history, it is the sole example of Jesus Christ which enables us to have a complete and accurate understanding of what L-O-V-E is … at its root. In fact, Romans 5:8 explains God’s great love for us: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
In addition to experiencing the deep love of Jesus Christ my Savior, there are numerous people in my daily life who’ve taught me what love is. My Beloved tops the list. After fifty-one years being married to him, I know how I’ve been blessed to be loved by him. The sonnet below expresses these facts … sans fact-checker.
Happy Valentine’s Day to all!
