What's Love Got To Do With It?
What is love? It is something that we talk about all the time but I am not sure it is something I understand. I turned to my trusty 1828 Noah Webster's Dictionary and it said
"...In short, we love whatever gives us pleasure and delight, whether animal or intellectual: and if our heart is right we love God above all things, and the sum of all excellence and all the attributes which can communicate happiness to intelligent beings. In other words, the christian loves God with the love of complacency in his attributes, the love of benevolence towards the interests of his kingdom, and the love of gratitude for favor recieved."
This is all fine and well, but there seems to be more to it than this. Thomas Merton says that love is not pluarlistic in it's interests. Meaning, love has only one interest, that of it's beloved. It does not even consider its self and it's needs and wants and desires. Love only cares about the other. Not in gratitude for favor recieved, nor for anything else. Rather, love merely loves just because. For they are and not for what they have done for the other.
Webster said that we love whatever gives us pleasure. Whether that is music, art, nature. Perhaps it is better said that we love what we think can bring us pleasure. But the only thing that can bring me pleasure is God. Only God can make me happy.
True love is this, when all my being, my whole essence, everything I read, eat, breathe, sleep, is consumed with thoughts of the King. My love for my wife should be overshadowed only by my love for the Lord. As I learn to love God more, I learn to love my wife more. All of my thoughts and intentions and hopes and dreams are left for my Lord. This is what love is to me. Love does not even consider itself. Thingking only of the one whom it loves.
"...In short, we love whatever gives us pleasure and delight, whether animal or intellectual: and if our heart is right we love God above all things, and the sum of all excellence and all the attributes which can communicate happiness to intelligent beings. In other words, the christian loves God with the love of complacency in his attributes, the love of benevolence towards the interests of his kingdom, and the love of gratitude for favor recieved."
This is all fine and well, but there seems to be more to it than this. Thomas Merton says that love is not pluarlistic in it's interests. Meaning, love has only one interest, that of it's beloved. It does not even consider its self and it's needs and wants and desires. Love only cares about the other. Not in gratitude for favor recieved, nor for anything else. Rather, love merely loves just because. For they are and not for what they have done for the other.
Webster said that we love whatever gives us pleasure. Whether that is music, art, nature. Perhaps it is better said that we love what we think can bring us pleasure. But the only thing that can bring me pleasure is God. Only God can make me happy.
True love is this, when all my being, my whole essence, everything I read, eat, breathe, sleep, is consumed with thoughts of the King. My love for my wife should be overshadowed only by my love for the Lord. As I learn to love God more, I learn to love my wife more. All of my thoughts and intentions and hopes and dreams are left for my Lord. This is what love is to me. Love does not even consider itself. Thingking only of the one whom it loves.
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