All About Love

Today is the 7^th of February.  As I always say, time flies so fast.  We already shed the January page of the calendar but I have yet to shed off my excess baggage from the holidays.  But I am not here to talk about my flab.  I like to talk about love. 

In my religion class way back in high school, I was taught about the different facets of love. The first one is Eros.  It is a romantic love; the love we feel towards opposite sex like the one we feel towards our girlfriend or boyfriend.  The second one is Phileo or brotherly love.  It is the kind of love that we feel towards our family and friends.  The third one is Agape, the best of all love.  This is the deepest love of all as it involves self-sacrifice for the sake of others.  It is the kind of love God has for the humanity.

What is love for me?  When I held my nephew EJ in my arms for the first time, I felt something inside me that’s so overwhelming it overflows to my eyes.  The moment I kissed his small cheeks made me feel what real love is.  It grew more intense when his small hand grasped my finger like everything depends on me.  I never knew I am capable of that love.  Up to now, he never fails to melt my heart.  He inspires me.  Biologically, he is not my son but deep in my heart, EJ will be my baby forever.

These following quotations about love also inspire me the most.  The first one is from chapter 13 of the book of 1^st Corinthians which states:

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. Love never fails.

And this one is from the movie Captain Corelli's Mandolin:

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two." 

Do I need to say more? I don't think so.  Happy heart's month everyone.  Be happy and stay full of love.