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Theresa's Tidbits: Love is for everyone
Theresa Seraphim
for Spotlight
If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don’t have it, no matter what else there is, it’s not enough. – Ann Landers
In a few days, we will be celebrating St. Valentine’s Day. Go to any store selling chocolates, flowers or jewelry, and staff there will be extrremely busy filling orders from men getting their wives/girlfriends something to tell them how special they are.
It’s a good time to think about love – not only the romantic love that’s emphasized on Feb. 14, but the other forms of love, as well.
The ancient Greeks had three words for love, each denoting a different type. Eros was the sexual love, philia was the brotherly type of love, and agape meant the unconditional love reserved for God and/or fellow humans.
Each, of course, has its place in our lives, and it’s important to remember that although eros is the type most emphasized in today’s society, it’s not the only type of love. We need the other two as well in order to be well-rounded people.
As Ann Landers makes clear in the above quote, we cannot do without love. It is as essential for life as food, shelter, and clothing. Not only does it cover a multitude of wrongdoings, it changes those who make the choice (yes, it’s a choice) to love. As Ann Landers says elsewhere, “Love is elevating. It lifts you up. It makes you look up. It makes you better than you were before.”
That poem was written to help people tell the difference between infatuation and true love, but it could apply to anyone and to any type of love. The marker of true love is unselfishness – doing what is good for the other people, with no thought of “what I will get out of it”. This is not so easy, in these days of “me first”. But it is more than worth it.
This Valentine’s Day, if you have access to the song “The Rose”, listen to it. The lyrics stress that love is for everyone, and it is never too late to choose to give freely of oneself to another person – and, by doing so, to make everyone’s life more worthwile.
Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver. – Barbara De Angelis
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