is it possible to love without ever seeming to love...
a follow up to the thread i posted not so long ago..
Isn't it said love needs expression? So can one love without expressing it? Then again, expressions of love vary from person to person and from situations, circumstances and culture. Sometimes however, the expression of love goes unnoticed by the object of love. So in a sense one can love without seeming to love, that is it is undetected, unobserved or unacknowledge by others or the one being love.
The question raised herewould then be how do you know you love? How do you know whether it is love or just a strong attraction (or what-have-you)? Which leads us to ask how do you define love? How do you differentiate love from the myriads of feelings that a human being is capable of experiencing? And is it really different, is it really more than these feelings? Which I believe it to be. (Then again we can have a whole debate over just this defining of love.)
If love then is more than these emotions, does it mean we can exercise influence over it? Can our mind overcome our emotions and take charge? So, can you choose to love? Now if we answer the question removed from all the giddy influences of romantic imagination or experiences and answer from a logical standpoint, we would certainly arrive at the answer "Yes". So love then is a choice...one can then choose to terminate loving another although it may take a while but it is possible. In the same way, one can choose not to fall in love. We always have a choice (it seems).
Ok, setting aside this intellectual discourse, you know, I think sometimes we are given circumstances where we must tread with caution eventhough our initial desire would be to allow our emotions to carry us away. Sometimes, we simply need to recognize the clear signs why we shouldn't pour our hearts out onto a particular person eventhough it may be so tempting. I think the easiest thing is to fall in love the really hard part is wisely choosing and knowing when to exercise restraint. It is not easy to surrender our desires especially when they are ever present (I think especially when it comes to our desire for romantic love). And when we are asked to deny even what may seem legitimate desires it is even harder. Sometimes though we are asked to surrender before we see clearly why the need for it. Sometimes we need to obey God before we understand his will.
Isn't it said love needs expression? So can one love without expressing it? Then again, expressions of love vary from person to person and from situations, circumstances and culture. Sometimes however, the expression of love goes unnoticed by the object of love. So in a sense one can love without seeming to love, that is it is undetected, unobserved or unacknowledge by others or the one being love.
The question raised herewould then be how do you know you love? How do you know whether it is love or just a strong attraction (or what-have-you)? Which leads us to ask how do you define love? How do you differentiate love from the myriads of feelings that a human being is capable of experiencing? And is it really different, is it really more than these feelings? Which I believe it to be. (Then again we can have a whole debate over just this defining of love.)
If love then is more than these emotions, does it mean we can exercise influence over it? Can our mind overcome our emotions and take charge? So, can you choose to love? Now if we answer the question removed from all the giddy influences of romantic imagination or experiences and answer from a logical standpoint, we would certainly arrive at the answer "Yes". So love then is a choice...one can then choose to terminate loving another although it may take a while but it is possible. In the same way, one can choose not to fall in love. We always have a choice (it seems).
Ok, setting aside this intellectual discourse, you know, I think sometimes we are given circumstances where we must tread with caution eventhough our initial desire would be to allow our emotions to carry us away. Sometimes, we simply need to recognize the clear signs why we shouldn't pour our hearts out onto a particular person eventhough it may be so tempting. I think the easiest thing is to fall in love the really hard part is wisely choosing and knowing when to exercise restraint. It is not easy to surrender our desires especially when they are ever present (I think especially when it comes to our desire for romantic love). And when we are asked to deny even what may seem legitimate desires it is even harder. Sometimes though we are asked to surrender before we see clearly why the need for it. Sometimes we need to obey God before we understand his will.