I don’t think there is any word in English language that is bastardized and misunderstood as the word love. Love has different connotations for different people depending on the person using it and for the purpose the person wants to convey by its usage. Many people use the word love for selfish reasons. Others use the word as a manipulative weapon so as to achieve their selfish inclinations. Yet love is the last bastion for our civilization. It is the only instrument that has the power to save the world from anarchy and chaos. “Love”, according to Martin Luther King, Jr., “is creative, understanding goodwill for all men”.
The Greek language has three words for love. First, it talks about love as eros. Plato sees eros as yearning of the soul for the realm of the gods. This is romantic love. Everyone has experienced eros in all its ramifications at one point or the other. Most of the time when young people talk of love, it is this eros that is at the root of it all. This love most of the time originates from infatuation and lust. This is not all together bad if handled properly for from this type of love comes powerful friendships that have resulted in marriage. The second type of love in Greek language is philia. This is a type of intimate affection between personal friends. Philia is a beautiful feeling that we have towards those we call our friends, who love us because we love them. You like the person because the person likes you and you want to go have dinner with the person or you want to go and see a movie with the person. You like to communicate with this person because you have certain things in common.
Another word for love in Greek language is agape. Agape is more than eros; it is more than philia. According to Martin Luther King Jr., “Agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all people. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men. And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love people, not because they are likable, but because God loves them”. This is the kind of love that Christ demonstrated on the cross when he died for us all. This love seeks nothing for self but seeks the good of the other. St. Paul refers to this type of love in his letter to the Corinthians 13:1-12. He says, “If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal… Love is patient; love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, is not rude, it does not seek its own interest, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”. Come to think of it, when we look at St. Paul’s understanding of the word love, do we measure up to its true meaning? Many parents have tried to love their children unconditionally. Yet many times they fall short of the true meaning of love. And yet this is what God did for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life”, (John 3:16). This is the kind of love we should have for one another. So I ask you, the last time you told someone you loved him or her, what did you really mean?
The friends, relatives or whoever I told I loved them was from my heart. I love all peoples, my church friends, my family, my neighbors. You don't know if you are going to see these people the next day as for some unknown reason they might be taken away from us. I wouldn't want the memory of being hurtful to someone the last time I saw them. So it is better to be kind and loving to all. It makes you feel good in your heart.
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