Love like We'll Never Be Hurt

Love is the most important quality that people possess. "Love changes darkness into light and makes the heart take a wingless flight." Love is the joy of heart and soul. Ultimately love is the "immortal flow of energy that nourishes, extends and preserves. Its eternal goal is life." Love can only be given to people as a gift; it can never be forced upon the recipients. 


I was recently reading C.S. Lewis's, best fictional book in my opinion, Till We Have Faces which his rendition of the ancient myth of the love story of Psyche and Cupid. In his version, Psyche's sister Orual is ugly and demanding. Orual has an obsessive longing to be loved; to demand complete and utter attention. She forces what she thinks is the best way of doing something or the best way of acting upon the people she apparently "loves." It is not until near the end of the story where is told that because of her actions she has driven two men to their deaths and her sister is forced to wander for eternity. Her love is not one of pure motives, without any expectations for their love returned. In reality her love is almost 9 parts hate and 1 part love. It isn't until the end of the novel does she realize what true love embodies, which is that love can only be given and never demanded or have any expectations. It must be offered through a free will of both people involved. These thoughts caused me to realize how self-centered people these days are in their quest for "true love," but I recently came across this quote which says "rather than always searching for the 'one', be the 'one' to the people around you."


Everyone nowadays is always looking for someone to fulfill all their desires and wants. This mindset is often the beginnings of selfish jerks, who are worried about their appearance and outward looks rather than their hearts and souls. Okay if this is you lets just stop for a second and think about it: when you're 80 what are you still going to have in the area of outward appearances: most likely you're gunna be ugly and fat, your bones will be groaning, most of your hair will be lost, and most of all you'll be tired and old. The only thing left in good or better condition will be your heart and soul. If you're searching for the "one" right now, wouldn't it be better to find someone who has a heart and soul worthy of the same beauty that is placed on the outward appearance? Love is about the communication between two people's hearts and emotions. Love cannot exist if the expectations are placed on appearance and social status rather than the inside.


The only way we are going to find the people who really have hearts of gold is to act out the love of God to everyone. We have to learn not to base our expectations of beauty and love on other people, because they will ALWAYS fail us. The only way we can truly love is to use the mindset that we will always be there in every situation, through every trial, always ready to listen to their troubles, and most of all ready to give all of us to the other person. Like Mark Twain said we must "love like we'll never be hurt," otherwise we'll never truly experience real, tangible love.