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The Bible says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear (respect) of God. Marilyn vos Savant said the essence of wisdom is the love of mankind (Parade, Aug.1, 2004). Both are right and I believe one is impossible without the other. But what is love? A century ago the dictionary had quite a lot to say about love. Its definitions included in-depth discourses on God’s love toward us and our love towards God. You could also learn about love of mankind, love of country, love of nature, love of family, love of spouse, and the love of one’s self. Eros, or love pertaining to sexual activity was not made such a big deal of. “Making love” had nothing to do with sex, but instead meant the energies spent in courting and spooning while trying to convince a person to become one’s fiancé. Sadly, these days when you look up “love,” the dictionary’s sparse few lines delves heavily into Eros and glosses over the spiritual and familial aspects of it. Love of country is rarely, if ever, mentioned. My generation, in all its wisdom, changed the spelling from “love” to “luv.” We added a “free” and “free luv” became the mantra of our sexual revolution. Our great leap forward turned out to be nothing more than our pathetic efforts to legitimize irresponsible, loveless, and eventually deadly sex. There’s a brand-new mantra for our politically correct times. It’s “love and tolerance for everyone.” It’s a nice sentiment but I think love has little to do with it and “tolerance” simply means keeping your mouth shut when encountering destructive and dishonest lifestyles. Is it possible to really love someone when you are too timid to warn them of the consequences of a destructive lifestyle? Is it possible to really love someone when you refuse to help free them of a corrupt, tyrannical, and barbaric personal relationship, religion, or government? If you are of the “love and tolerance” group, you might ask yourself if your love actually extends to those who don’t see things your way. Ask yourself if you love the un-born. The aged? Do you love the handicapped and the able-bodied? The educated and the ignorant? Mental giants and the mentally retarded? The insane? Do you love the super-rich and the destitute? The beautiful and the ugly? The bathed and the stinky? The vain? Headbangers and those who like mostly Mozart? The stingy and the generous? Do you love liberals and conservatives? Do you love the hugely obese as well as the anorexic? The diseased and dying as well as the robustly healthy? Drug abusers and drunks as well as the clean and sober? Hookers and hustlers? Do you love Jews and Gentiles? Whites? Blacks? Browns? Yellows? Do you love the hard-working and the lazy? Do you love homosexuals? Heterosexuals? The promiscuous? The monogamous? The celibate? Do you love Buddhists and Hindus? Muslims and Judaists? Catholics and Protestants? Satanists? Atheists? The kind and the cruel? The law-abiding and the lawless? How about this one – do you love yourself? (This includes not only your body but your mind and your spirituality?) Human nature would say it’s impossible to love all of those people. I agree. Most of us could love some of them, tolerate a few more, be willing to euthanize a couple, and shoot the rest. So how is it possible to love mankind unconditionally? Look at mankind through the eyes of God. God loves all of us. God so wishes to commune with all of us that He provided for our redemption as a way to break the sin barrier so that everyone can commune with Him if they choose. When people start to commune with God and begin to learn about real love, they realize that the love of their body is no longer first on their list of priorities. This shatters the “me-my-mine” fixation and enables them to start loving mankind – even unconditionally. *The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. (2044) (Victor Hugo) *Love is patient and kind. It doesn’t envy or boast, it isn’t proud or rude, it isn’t self-seeking or easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love doesn’t delight in evil but rejoices in truth. Love always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. Love never fails. (2450) (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) (This necklace makes a great wedding present.) *I LOVE YOU. (103) *SAYA SAYANG AWA. (2508) (Malaysian – I love you.) *At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet. (2267) (Plato) *Roses are red, violets are blue, I know I will always love you. (174) *Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. (2368) (Antoine de Saint Exupery) *Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love. (2354) (Charlie Brown) *Man must evolve for all human conflicts a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation, the foundation of such a method is love. (2013) (Martin Luther King, Jr.) *Love cannot be coerced and still be love. It cannot be programmed and still be love. If it is not given freely by choice, it is something else, such as duty…. (2851) (Dr. Hugh Ross) *There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness. (915) (Josh Billings) *He who is forgiven much, loves much. (682) *To be afraid of love is to be afraid of life. Irish proverb (1761) *Love conquers all. Virgil (2249)
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