I got the chance to spend most of the afternoon outside. It was a beautiful day. I had about two hours to "kill" between my last class and I decided to go sit beside one of the ponds that is on campus. I've sat out there before, and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite places. It's a quiet place to read, think, or pray. It was nice to spend some quiet time to myself.
I received an email this afternoon with this song attached: "You Don't Laugh Anymore" by Greg Whitfield. It's a really good song and it's funny that he should send me that song. Lately I've been thinking about the very thing the song talks about: love. In our culture, we are bombarded with symbols and examples of love. All of them seem so superficial, so temporary. People fall in and out of love, like that is what's supposed to happen. And this isn't just in the movies and music-this is in real life too. It's sad. It makes my heart break. It scares me because I don't want that to happen to me. How can you pour your whole heart and soul into another person's life, and all-of-a-sudden "fall out of love" with them? The whole concept of "love" is twisted and warped. I know for a fact that you can't base something that phenomenally important on feelings. Emotions are up and down all the time. You can't live your life by them. I'm still trying to nail down what love is to me. I used to think it was a decision, that you consciously decided to love someone, no matter what. I still hold to that, but on the other hand, I believed that you couldn't "fall out of love" with someone. It contradicts the earlier statement. If you decide to love someone, you can decide not to love them as well. It's something that's learned, I suppose. Definitely something to think about. I think 1 Corinthians 13 could shed some light on that subject. I believe I'll go look it up right now.
I received an email this afternoon with this song attached: "You Don't Laugh Anymore" by Greg Whitfield. It's a really good song and it's funny that he should send me that song. Lately I've been thinking about the very thing the song talks about: love. In our culture, we are bombarded with symbols and examples of love. All of them seem so superficial, so temporary. People fall in and out of love, like that is what's supposed to happen. And this isn't just in the movies and music-this is in real life too. It's sad. It makes my heart break. It scares me because I don't want that to happen to me. How can you pour your whole heart and soul into another person's life, and all-of-a-sudden "fall out of love" with them? The whole concept of "love" is twisted and warped. I know for a fact that you can't base something that phenomenally important on feelings. Emotions are up and down all the time. You can't live your life by them. I'm still trying to nail down what love is to me. I used to think it was a decision, that you consciously decided to love someone, no matter what. I still hold to that, but on the other hand, I believed that you couldn't "fall out of love" with someone. It contradicts the earlier statement. If you decide to love someone, you can decide not to love them as well. It's something that's learned, I suppose. Definitely something to think about. I think 1 Corinthians 13 could shed some light on that subject. I believe I'll go look it up right now.
3 comments:
Interesting. I've always heard people say that love is a decision, and while I guess to some extent it is, I've always thought that made it a little less magical. It can't be all magic, but it also can't be all decision because that does leave it sort of up to chance. Whatever I happen to decide at a given moment determines the outcome of the entire relationship, until I just change my mind again. That seems too fickle. Definitely something to think about.
Happy belated birthday Katie Nic!!! We love you!!! Mary, Vinnie, and the girls!!!
This is a very interesting question. Can I share some thoughts? There is that magic, that spark that starts you wondering: could this be love? You let that grow. Then there comes the decision, I call it a commitment, that I will put this one person above all others, forever. If that commitment is really made to the other person and to God, there is no going back. And the magic keeps on growing.
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