"The condition of the human heart is that we all pursue love."
- Robert Messarge, Jr.
Based on what history has told us, I believe it is safe to assume that this statement is true. What history has not done is to remove from our hearts the question:
'What is love?'
Is it an all consuming feeling that looks to passion and sensuality?
Is it the short-lived drama of a high-school crush?
Is it shown by a mother's tender care of her child?
By a man's unique concern for his wife's happiness?
A child climbing into a welcoming lap, resting its head on a capable shoulder, knowing she's safe?
What is love?
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"Is love a fancy or a feeling? No. It is immortal as immaculate Truth, 'Tis not a blossom shed as soon as youth drops from the stem of life -- for it will grow, in barren regions, where no water flows, Nor rays of promise cheats the pensive gloom... Nor will it change, though all be changed beside; Though fairest beauty be no longer fair, Though vows be false, and faith itself deny, Though sharp enjoyment be a suicide, And hope a specter in a ruin bare."
- Hartley Coleridge
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This past Fall I had the priviledge of meeting the Jost family at one of their concerts (those of you who have seen their movie clips might know them by the youtube title "Jostie Flicks"). Their oldest daughter, Emily, sang a song her mother, Lisa, composed about the words we say and what they mean. The chorus was what stuck with me the most:
"When you say LOVE, you say a million things
More than flowers or diamond rings
More than candy and valentines
More than feelings and starry eyes
When you say LOVE, you're saying SACRIFICE
You are WILLING TO LAY DOWN YOUR LIFE
WALK AWAY from your selfish pride
TURN AWAY from the tempting side
When you say LOVE"
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Recently one of my friends jokingly said: "love is over-rated." I told her it was romance that was "over-rated." Love (in the true sense of the word) could never be over-rated because it is boundless! Romance is a feeling. Feelings come and go. Love remains.
1 John 4:10 (New Living Translation)
"This is real love—not that we loved God,
but that he loved us and sent his Son
as a sacrifice to take away our sins."
There you have it! Fini. Period. Take that to the bank and cash it! That's love.
(Note: These pictures were taken off the internet. I cannot claim them as my own)
