"What is Love?"
This is the same questions we are going to explore today! Just in a little bit of a different context.M. Scott Peck said, "One result of the mysterious nature of love is that no one has ever, to my knowledge, arrived at a truly satisfactory definition of love. In an effort to explain it, therefore, love has been divided into various categories: eros, philia, agape; perfect love and imperfect love, and so on. I am presuming, however, to give a single definition of love, again with the awareness that it is likely to be in some way or ways inadequate. I define love thus: The will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another's spiritual growth." (The Road Less Traveled, 1978, p. 81)
so lets take a closer look into those different aspects of Love that the Greeks have defined for us, here are just some basic defining words I wrote during our class discussion:
Eros: erotic, romantic, sexual
Philia: brotherly love, friends, intimate
Storge: love of a parent for a child
Agape: service, improve their life, Charity
Understanding these it becomes more clear why some couples who are quickly physically intimate through hand holding, hugs, cuddling or beyond before they have developed the other aspects find that 'love grows cold' or that they just 'fall out of love' while Eros is an extremely important aspect of a romantic relationship it should not be the full foundation on which we build.
Philia explains the loyalty we feel when a part of a team. While in high school I ran on the cross country team. We loved each other, in a non romantic way. That love and loyalty made it possible for us to appropriately give constructive criticism and to push and expect more out of each other.
A love I cannot claim very much familiarity with is that captured by the idea of Storge, the love of a parent for their child. I've heard its powerful, maybe even more so than other forms of love.
Agape is a love that we have an ever increasing need for in our day and time. To desire to lift or serve another human is more noble than any selfish desire, no matter how prestigious it may be. This love brings people together in a way that is unmatched by the other forms.
and maybe that is the main lesson to learn, that there are different aspects to love and they all have their place. Perhaps one is not more important than the other but we need to use them together to gain the fulfillment that we are all seeking in this life.
stay tuned for more on these forms of love and their applications into our life. but until next time take a second to evaluate the important relationships in your life. Can you identify these forms of love? How do they work together?
What is love? While we might not be able to adequately capture it with words, at the very least, lets be aware of it, and allow it to enrich the relationships we treasure.
Philia explains the loyalty we feel when a part of a team. While in high school I ran on the cross country team. We loved each other, in a non romantic way. That love and loyalty made it possible for us to appropriately give constructive criticism and to push and expect more out of each other.
A love I cannot claim very much familiarity with is that captured by the idea of Storge, the love of a parent for their child. I've heard its powerful, maybe even more so than other forms of love.
Agape is a love that we have an ever increasing need for in our day and time. To desire to lift or serve another human is more noble than any selfish desire, no matter how prestigious it may be. This love brings people together in a way that is unmatched by the other forms.
and maybe that is the main lesson to learn, that there are different aspects to love and they all have their place. Perhaps one is not more important than the other but we need to use them together to gain the fulfillment that we are all seeking in this life.
stay tuned for more on these forms of love and their applications into our life. but until next time take a second to evaluate the important relationships in your life. Can you identify these forms of love? How do they work together?
What is love? While we might not be able to adequately capture it with words, at the very least, lets be aware of it, and allow it to enrich the relationships we treasure.
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