DJ's GIMME SOME O' DAT LOVE DEPT.
The Power That Love Is... or Isn't

The word "love" ...can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Often, other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts that English relies mainly on "love" to encapsulate; one example is the plurality of Greek words for "love." Cultural differences in conceptualizing love thus make it doubly difficult to establish any universal definition.

Although the nature or essence of love is a subject of frequent debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what isn't love. As a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like), love is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy); as a less sexual and more emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is sometimes contrasted with friendship, although the word love is often applied to close friendships.

Parenthetically speaking, the love we share with others goes with an invisible clause that makes us believe that such love will be returned or reciprocated. That fallacy makes us vulnerable to be hurt WHEN IT'S NOT. Is it possible then to love and expect next to nothing or not much or very little?

We make mistakes and then we HURT inside; pain that we cause ourselves by not knowing how to LOVE one another. YES, not knowing. You might say, "Nonsense".... but what I might not know in practice, I do know in theory. Love is the gracious (unmerited to others) self-giving of ourselves as unselfish human care. NO debate needed.

Love is not sex, friendship, nor displays of affection... love is giving without expecting anything in return... and that's not easy, not for you, me or anybody. That's what makes it so volatile and fragile. We expect, we don't get, we get mad and hold grudges because of it. We all have failed to be patient and kind; we all have become jealous, conceited and proud to the point of being ill-mannered, selfish, irritable, and often-times curse at each other.

Because of the complex and abstract nature of love, discourse on love is commonly reduced to a thought-terminating cliché, and there are a number of common proverbs regarding love, from Virgil's "Love conquers all" to The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love".

St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle, defines love as "to will the good of another." Bertrand Russell describes love as a condition of "absolute value," as opposed to relative value. Philosopher Gottfried Leibniz said that love is "to be delighted by the happiness of another." Biologist Jeremy Griffith defines love as "unconditional selflessness".

Our major mistake is that we keep a record of wrongs and throw it back at each other’s faces when We don't get what we expected. We have failed to recognize truth as what it is... reality! We have given up because of our lack of patience and faith. As true lovers we have failed to abide by the parameters that make LOVE the force that binds people's lives.

How do we fix that? We can only fix that when we care enough NOT to have our way... yes, and wait for the other person to recognize our sacrifice, regardless of the time that it takes. Hard, huh? But, even animals know who butters their toast and come back to it. We should never give ourselves "as we are" with a "take me or leave me" clause attached to it. Only God is good enough to achieve such monumental task! "Love without deeds is dead", the Lord Jesus' brother James once said.

So let's get going with the doing, the healing, the giving, the caring, the expressions of "I'm here for you"... deeds, not just mere words! LET's get back to the drawing board and start rebuilding... for as much as it takes. Otherwise we throw it all to hell, but mind you, we WILL have to render accounts someday, here in this world or in the world to come. Make no mistake of that!

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day is an annual commemoration held on February 14, celebrating love and affection. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine who celebrated the coming of birds mating season, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 500 AD. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines").  But alas! It's not as simple as we mortals claim it to be. It requires a slippery ingredient, LOVE, the real thing. But love is more difficult to fathom than the square root of 2 (which has 10 million numbers), or the quantum attributes of the speed of light. Awh... never mind that!

“There's no greater love (agápe) than this, that one lays
down his life for his friends.” —John 15:13—
 

To normal folk, love is the emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. In some religious contexts, love is not just a virtue, but the basis for all being, as in the Roman Catholic phrase, "God is Love". Love may also be described as actions towards others (or oneself) based on compassion, or as actions towards others based on affection.

The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my partner"). Love can also refer specifically to the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love, to the sexual love of eros (cf. Greek words for love), to the emotional closeness of familial love, or to the platonic love that defines friendship, to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love.

This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states. Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.

Yes, LOVE! Wars have been fought because of it and Kingdoms have emerged and succumbed just because of it. People have killed and been killed because of it. Yes! Believe it! !
There's nothing greater and more powerful or important than love. YES! It is all because of LOVE. However... we all know what love is NOT, but often fail to learn what it IS. What IS that crazy thing called LOVE?

Love —{ Agápe } Greek noun meaning ‘love’ not much used in secular writings but common in the New Testament for the gracious self-giving love of God shown in Christ; and correspondingly of unselfish human love. Got it?

There are several Greek words for love, as the Greek language distinguishes how the word is used. Ancient Greek has four distinct words for love: agápe, éros, philía, and storgē. However, as with other languages, it has been historically difficult to separate the meanings of these words. Nonetheless, the senses in which these words were generally used are given below.

Éros (έρως érōs) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Modern Greek word "erotas" means "(romantic) love;" however, éros does not have to be sexual in nature. Éros can be interpreted as a love for someone whom you love more than the philía, love of friendship. It can also apply to dating relationships as well as marriage. Plato refined his own definition: Although éros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself.

It should be noted that Plato does not talk of physical attraction as a necessary part of love, hence the use of the word platonic to mean, "without physical attraction." Plato also said éros helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty, and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth. Moreover... lovers and philosophers are all inspired to seek truth by éros. The most famous ancient work on the subject of éros is Plato's Symposium, which is a discussion among the students of Socrates on the nature of éros.

Philía (φιλία philía) means friendship in modern Greek. It is a dispassionate virtuous love, a concept perhaps developed by Aristotle. It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality and familiarity. In ancient texts, "philos" denoted a general type of love, used for love between family, between friends, a desire or enjoyment of an activity, as well as between lovers.

Storgē (στοργή storgē) means "affection" in ancient and modern Greek. It is natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring. Rarely used in ancient works, and then almost exclusively as a descriptor of relationships within the family... e.g., you scratch my back and I scratch yours. It is also known to express mere acceptance or putting up with situations, as in "loving" the tyrant or the witch.

Agápe (αγάπη agápē) means "love" in modern day Greek, such as in the term s'agapo (Σ'αγαπώ), which means "I love you". In Ancient Greek, it often refers to a general affection or deeper sense of "true love" rather than the attraction suggested by "éros" or any other form of love.

Agápe is the highest form of love... used in the biblical passage known as the "love chapter", 1 Corinthians 13, and described there and throughout the New Testament as sacrificial love, one that does NOT expect anything in return. Agápe is also used in ancient texts to denote feelings for one's children, and the feelings for a spouse. It can be described, among other things, as the feeling of being content or holding one in high regard.

Peace and Prosperity!

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“Live in such a way that no one blames the rest of us 
nor finds fault with our work.” —(2 Corinthians 6:3)