Life at times has a funny way of teaching lessons, especially those in the matter of love. Love, alike any lesson tends to include some form of pain, toil, and lost, which often results in people losing “faith” in it. At times I question what faith has to do with it, if anything. Love in my opinion is something you just blindly feel and faith is more of an analytical matter, a personal negotiation or heavenly happenstance. But, if faith is heavenly then so is love. I believe that loving is, our spirits ultimate desire of experience while incarnate. Is it not the closest aspect of Godhead we can experience? Yet, it seems that worldly/human nature at times makes us destroy the very thing we love. Perhaps, there is comfort in destroying the thing you fear may one day destroy a part of you. At times it can seem as if all there were ultimately left to our control is the often opted ability to walk away, dismiss and hopefully, one day forget. At times this motivation is based on personal misconstrued desperation and at others on very real hindering realities. Lastly it is faith, in our selves, an aspect of self-love that demands the either difficult act of walking away or provides the courage to keep a love alive.
Love is a difficult thing to keep alive since many of us at some point or another adopt the notion that love can only exist conditionally. Then find our selves trying to confine love to the constructs of theory for the rest of our lives, desperately seeking to formulate the impossible and measure the immeasurable in order to be better prepared for the unknown and placate to our insecurities. In our questioning confusion, our greatest capability becomes hindered by that of our biggest flaw, fear. Fear of the unknown always haunts the human spirit. It is fear that leads to jealousy, insecurities, lies, and the untimely, "letting-go". In our haste to seek out a momentary antidote to our dis-“illusions”, we forget the virtues of forgiveness, compassion and tolerance, making room for spite, revenge and surrender, never once over looking personal pride or the selfish antics of fear, a cycle that keeps so many of us looking back over our shoulders for a lifetime wondering; what if?
It’s also easy to become lost in the false moment with another. Within the context of a relationship, attachment, sometimes confused with love, supersedes the egotistic, at times beneficial, process of knowing when to walk away. I try to remember that they, love and attachment, are two very different & distinct aspects of a relationship. One is governed by the "us/we" mentality, constantly reinforced, because our self-identity at times can become, in part, "fused" (for the better) and at times, rather con-"fused" (for the worst) and forgets the "I", while lost in the "we".
Reflect and allow self-enlightment and awareness, guide you.
Ultimately:
Love.... frees you, unbinds, nurtures, is selfless, self sustaining, allows you to stand naked, speak the truth and requires nothing in return.
The Ego... makes us compare, doubt, question, demand, lie, exceed, expect, requires change, makes you ashamed (dresses you) but at the same time, it can also give one the strength to walk away and take care of him/her self.
Maybe one day, love might overcome our fears and what was lost, find its way home.
I must say Yusef, that I deeply appreciated your insight on the topic and matters of LOVE. In the second sentence, the word Faith is mentioned and described as "more of an analytical matter". I instantly recalled Hebrews 11:1 of the BIBLE. The definition of faith is described as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things NOT SEEN". Thus, faith reinforces your declaration that "Love [in my opinion] is something you just blindly feel". Faith deeply suggests the act of "blindly following something" (ie. the state of being which is love) without the act of analyzing. An analytical standpoint on things generally connotates the act of being HUMAN. Things are established or made by means of deep thought. While faith (considered by most to be "heavenly") implies something that has been, is, and will always be.
You also noted that fear (or as you went on: the Ego) instills many negative emotions and actions. I must agree, although, Sigmund Freud described the ego as the balance of our primitive needs and our moral beliefs and taboos--Carl Maslow would describe LOVE as one of these needs before self actualization. Thus that something one would desire to have faith in is then ANALYZED by the ego. This then leads one to fear and causes the negative effects you stated previously.
Lastly, I must comment on your proclamation that "Love frees you, unbinds, nurtures, is selfless, self sustaining, allows you to stand naked, speak the truth and requires nothing in return". The BIBLE aslo strenthens your views as it describes Love as the greatest gift. One that suffers long and is kind (explaining the curious fact that when one person loves another more abundantly, he/she is less loved). It does NOT envy, does NOT parade itself, does NOT behave rudely, does NOT seek its own, thinks NO evil (ie. false accusations), is NOT provoked, and hopes and endures all.
Thank you for enlightening us with words of wisdom that bring to life many of the experiences we endure, especially the experience of loving someone which is a subject that is very delicate to some. I look forward to reading your next work.
Eddie,
Thank you for your thoughtful and complimenting addition.
I'm feelin your out look on love, love is truely one of the most powerful feeling, people have killed and die, all in the name of love. Your thought, just like you are very refreshing
I have to Up this one....I can't believe i slept on this....
I am mos definitely feeling this post as well. I've never really sat down and analyzed the subject of 'love' to this degree. Thinking back, I've always just blindly went with what i felt. Does that make me less human? LOL....
but seriously....
A lot of strong points were made here. Reading through this the first time I have to admit....you lost me in the first few lines dawg....I wasn't very clear on how you made the connection that love was heavenly because faith was heavenly. So thank you, Eddie, for clearing that up for me by referencing the bible (I can be a little sloooooow at times, hehe).
Now that i think about it, I guess I've always thought of love as kind of a 'sixth sense'. I'd love to get into it but, in short, I feel its something that comes from within. Its our human nature and other senses that makes one put up barriers so, I feel you guys on that point. But if we're aware of all this 'blindness', how blind are our feelings of faith and love really?
And if its
heavenly,
is heaven in me?
I'll have to think about this some more. Thanks for the inspiration. This was a GREAT read and was very well written. Be safe.
One.
Interesting so far, it is true what you say. Sometimes I ponder love and hope the people that appreciate love and the nuances of all that is involved will love each other.