Love?!... (Part 5)

This begins my last and final post in this series on love. I have talked much on this subject, mainly discerning between the different types of relationship that we know to share; friendship, companionship, sharing, affection, and of course God’s love. I began this whole topic looking into my own heart and I feel that maybe I ventured from that getting lost in the verbose verbiage and for that I apologize first to my own heart and then to the reader.

Love always seemed to be a sappy touchy topic that everyone always wants to discuss or the opposite, neglect to mention when needed. In the beginning I asked a series of questions all of which I had asked myself because the occasion has called. The only problem with that was I never asked the people who mattered. I cowered and hid in my small corner and watched, hoping my chance would pass so that I would not have to risk being caught on a weak limb waiting to break and fall. I fled from opportunity unlike the wise who would pursue it. Does my cowardliness out weigh my wisdom, i think not. My problem lies with my thoughts meeting my passions. My thoughts defend me while my actions accuse me. I know what others might say but choose not to act, this problem above all others defines the human failure to Love God.

This past week I spent much time with friends, three great people. We worked our way through one of my favorite books in the Bible, Philippians. I am not sure if you have ever read this short book of four chapters, but one thing I do know; you must! The language seems different from all of his other books, I think maybe because Paul never wanes in one area of his life, that being passion. His passion screams from his wording, his phrases, how he demonstrates a continual devotion to God even though suffering much, while in chains. He suffers because of the gospel, he lives it, breathes it and never takes his eye off that Goal, the one thing he lives for and in death reaches, and the goal’s name is Christ. In the study I got to see something, something I had not seen before, the passion of a brother who has found purpose in his faith, a kind of newly birthed passion. I got to see the pain of another brother, the turmoil that fills his family’s life and the strength he has to hold them together. I witnessed the friendship of a sister whose passion never ceases to amaze me and her Love for God and his creation is truly inspiring. The one thing I have yet to share with you about love is passion.

Love requires a kind of passion, one not easily attained and harder to toss aside. Passion will overlook the evil and the difficulties. Passion will create endurance and with endurance, strength. Here you may begin to question my words; what if I told you Love was a sort of suffering. I believe it. People always associate suffering with the terrible parts of life such as illness, loss of a job, death of a relative or friend. What people seem to be blind to is that those sufferings make them stronger, especially for the Christians. The suffering of Love strengthens you. One thing is true, happiness comes and goes like the tide, but when you choose to remain strong in Love your suffering adds to your passion so you begin to live off of the suffering for you know what great things it leads love to. Love does not hinge on the emotion of happiness, but rejoices with the continual obedience to live for the love you will. My point is love will not always include fun or happiness, but that because you suffer through the times when it brings hardships, love abounds all the more. Those who give up can never understand the true suffering of Love. C.S. Lewis once said that those who give into temptation are the weak because they had not the strength to survive through the temptation. They gave in only after five minutes so really the bad people had no idea about the strength of temptation. Well the bad or the weak are the ones who gave in only after five minutes not becoming stronger by this suffering of Love failing to grasp its supreme power as well as beauty. Cowering in the corner afraid of that weak limb to crawl out on, there the bad people sit and forever wait praying their opportunity doesn't see them.

Passion comes from the suffering; those who suffer have passion that grows. I think maybe I give into the suffering and because of that I wave each opportunity by never quite knowing the true passion I could have. Now I am not talking about my Bond with God, I want that made clear, also my family and friendships are all in tact doing great. So what is left? Perhaps the passion to seek what my heart desires and longs for, to meet another to suffer with.

Tonight I shall begin a prayer, a prayer for the strength to suffer through Love so I have a new source of passion, the kind that builds only with every passing hardship. And here I conclude what I call Love; no matter how many words I throw at it, they all seem pointless. After all, Love is indescribable. ;-)

-Jonny Heart

Love (Part 4)

Nature, what to say about it? It is Beautiful and at other times terrifying, not terrifying in the sense I shiver with fear but a fear that stands in awe of a presence that compares you to a tiny blade of grass and itself the greatest of all mountains. The beauty molded into trees and rivers or the vast blue sky that protects us from a span greater then I may comprehend or pretend to. The great features are made up of all the little details like texture, creatures, colors, quantity, heat or cold. A friend once told me how she could see God in a swarm of gnats and it was beautiful, I do not have that talent, but desire it. This post will base more on reason then poetry.

The question brought up at sonic and I now inquire about is this; “Is it possible to Love nature?” Monokardia spat quickly back, “Yes!” Now I consider if that to be true. A man says he may love his dog, but the question of Love remains, does the object of affection have to return such a desire. The Dog lives off its master, like a baby relies on a parent. Can the baby love? It thinks only of itself and of course has to in order to survive. You could say that the dog feels love for the master, making it an emotional based love. The dog is happy when you return home, and wishes you to give it attention and pet him. Yet again the direction of attention is one way, from the master to the Dog and never in return. Now is that the love that a human has for another human, or on a higher level the love God has for man? The dog serves and does tricks, but for the satisfaction of praise and a treat. I am convinced now that if we keep love to a core value of an action of will serving another then no, a dog cannot love but has the appearance of love.

This only answers the question can nature love in return, not can man love nature?

My Grandfather gave me a boat shelf made out of cherry wood, a wonderful gift. Now, I could say I love those shelves, but is that true? Do I love them because of what it is or because of who gave them to me and the time and energy he put into it just for me? After considering it I found that the later was true. So when God gave us nature as a gift and made us stewards over it, does that mean we love nature because of what it is or because God gave it to us? Take this argument outside of Christianity; does an atheist love nature for the simple fact it is appealing to observe? I should say yes. Now does his idea of love match ours/mine? I should say not. I am not sure what I would say of nature if I were not a Christian, I have always been one so I have no way of knowing. I think they care as much, if not more of it then Christians. Could this mean then that it is possible to love nature though you do not acknowledge a divine creator? I should say no. A non-creator idealist still has faith that it is mere chance we exist. They put faith in evolution or something to that nature. Now it can be said of them they have respect for nature because they acknowledge the complexity of it but have not love for it (by our stricter sense of the word love). The point is that when you realize your own insignificance you gain a respect for what seems greater. When a Christian says he or she loves nature, what they mean is they love the gift God has given them. So they love God, not nature.

Well let us ponder on the idea of sharing love. A man and wife, in the truest sense, love one another by serving the other. This is the highest level of love; only fitting it comes in the worldly ideal, as the lowest notion of acts, serving. In the beginning of the first post I asked the question is it possible to love someone or something if they do not return the favor? Depends on the love. If you think of erotic love then no you cannot, it is a love you share. Now if you take agape love then yes, you could say that but a man who “loves” a girl though she does not love in return may actually be suffering from his own infatuation, which is not love but a envy or lust. Is it possible for a man or woman to love a person as a husband should love a wife or vice versa yet the recipient denies such affection? To that I am still searching for an answer. So I suppose the discussion of love comes down to matter of diction. The English language simply cannot contain the meanings of Love. Maybe that is why people have taken the word and abused it with everyday matters such as “I love that car.” No proper meaning of Love exists because one word is forced to support many different kinds of thoughts.