Love...

Love – possibly the most powerful four letter word known to man. One small
word but a thousand meanings. Everyone seems to know what love is, but
nobody seems able to define or even explain it. Sometimes it brings joy to
one’s life while at other times it inflicts pain and suffering. On the one
hand, it is manipulating, and on the other it is generous. It is capable of
both breaking and creating relations. In some instances, it can even be
one’s death or one’s rebirth. Contrary to the above however, there really is
one type of love – a love that is unselfish in every possible way; a love
that is truly altruistic, a love that is unconditional.

To love unconditionally is to love without condition. It means to love
without expecting anything in return except for the others’ happiness. It
available at all times, never fading, and though it may hurt not getting the
same love back, one is happy by simply giving it. The power of love which
makes it most unique is its power to create goodness, or at least to awake
it. And when one loves altruistically, he wants nothing but goodness for his
beloved.

There are things that make up ‘love’, such as trust, respect, honesty, and
integrity. These along with many other qualities make up the very essence of
this mystifying emotion. Love in its broad sense is the feeling of strong
attraction, and often attachment and protection. It is the want and the need
for one to nurture and to care for someone else, whether it be a person,
animal, country, faith, etc. It motivates people to give freely their lives,
time and devotion. I believe love is a choice. If love comes from
appreciating goodness, it needn't just happen -- you can make it happen.
Love is active. You can create it. Just focus on the good in another person
(and everyone has some). If you can do this easily, you'll love easily.

Love however, goes beyond just the relationship between two people. It can
be applied to combat racism, hate, and wars. Dr. Martin Luther King and
Gandhi both civil rights activists, believed that the best way to combat the
forces of evil was with love. Though the statement is vague, to any abstract
thinker the principle is a simple concept. Love can induce change in not
only our communities but also in our nation, and possibly the world. All
each of us need to be is unselfish. It is love which enables us to turn the
other cheek when we were wronged, and it is love which can strengthen
humanity, opposed to hatred, which cripples it.

My favorite definition of love has always been:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is
not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. - 1 Corinthians 13:5-7