what is love?

[bradleykavin]

i signed up for this thread a while ago, initially trying to answer the questions of religion i had asked myself throughout the course of my life. I haven't posted much, but I have read countless books including the bible, and have yet to find real answers I have been searching for. I am jewish by blood, but I truly believe no religion. Regardless, I have come to ask a question and to see what people on here think.

What is love? We define love in dictionaries and in movies as when two people care about each-other unconditionally, and accept each-other in all aspects both physical and internal. The bible speaks of love constantly, yet never attempts to define it. I believe if love is truly something rare, and something divine, then should it not be required to have any physical characteristics at all. I define love as the true connection between souls. A connection that extends beyond our physical world, into the intangible. I am simply not a talented enough writer to explain my thoughts on this as well as other things, but I am hoping for some sort of input from others.

 

[jamaesi]

G-d is love.

 

[autonomous1one1]

..What is love?..... but I am hoping for some sort of input from others.

Greetings bradleykavin. We have many experts on Love in RF so tis a question why only one response so far. Maybe others missed this thread as is the case with me until today.

There are quite a few threads that touch on Love, and two that address God is Love are:
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/religious-debates/42411-what-does-mean-god-love.html
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/religious-debates/46139-god-love.html

Also, within those threads Scott1 referred us to the first Encyclical Letter of the Pope on God is Love: Encyclical Letter "Deus Caritas Est"

That ‘God is Love’ has meant a lot to me in different ways. At first, at minimum, in the New Testament it is a statement from a person in unity with God that points to how we should feel when we think of God. Thinking of Love brings out the warmest of feelings, and also, God as being Love itself, is One that does not separate from humans. Humans only can separate themselves from God.

‘God is Love,’ coupled with ‘he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him,’ indicates God’s accessibility to us and a pathway to union with God.

I have become to believe as others have posted in those threads that the words, ‘God is Love,’ point to love as something more fundamental in ‘being’ and part of the very fabric of existence and, of course, our being. This is plausible when one considers the union (and reunion) aspects of love and being. For me, the greatest and most direct way to experience God as Love comes from the breakthrough to realization of oneness with God, above subject-object structure. This union with God is also union with all of God's creation; and the Self, as 'all,' works as God toward the fulfillment of others universally and unconditionally. This is what I understand agape to be.
Regards,
a...1

 

[Abram]

Love is not only a way to explain a feeling, it’s and act. You do and say things to express love. Love only exists when it is acted on. "Being" in love is only for the movies and books. Doing love is the only way for it to exist.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres...

 

[Vassal]

Love is not only a way to explain a feeling, it’s and act. You do and say things to express love. Love only exists when it is acted on. "Being" in love is only for the movies and books. Doing love is the only way for it to exist.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres...

Those are all characteristics of Love, but that isn't what love is. Love is caring for the well-being of someone, which results in those things you listed.

 

[Reverend Chris]

Unconditional Love is what we had prior to our soul entering the womb. We were spirit before flesh. Now we are spirit in flesh. In the flesh we will not experience unconditional love from the light. So we miss it . This gives us insecurity, loneliness, among many other bad feelings. We will not have unconditional love again from the light until we return to it when we die.

 

[Rolling_Stone]

I define "love" as the spiritual equivalent of gravity, the "stuff" that binds the universe together and gives it form. It is the motivator of creative action.

 

[Sunstone]

Love is the direct opposite of "Evol" -- absolute proof that evolutionists don't love.

 

[opuntia]

I do not know how well you accept accounts of those who claim to have died and crossed over into the other sphere or world; but I hope this account might give you another viewpoint you may have not heard.

This particular account is found in a book that contains accounts of people who have died and come back, a process called the near-death experience (NDE): Duane S. Crowther, Life Everlasting: A Definitive Study of Life After Death (Bountiful, UT: Horizon Publishers, 1997), p. 463. The author quotes Larry Tooley:

"I felt a great love coming from the light. Beautiful golden rays radiated in every direction. Every object seemed to glow as it reflected the rays of this golden light. I stood, staring in awe at the light. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

"I could feel an all-encompassing love as the golden rays enveloped me. I felt secure and more loved at that moment than I can ever remember. The words 'brotherly love' took on a whole new meaning as I began to more fully comprehend the unity of God's creations. I sensed in this grand design that we're all linked with each other through this love, as literal brothers and sisters--children of our Heavenly Father. I also felt a kinship with the universe through this universal spirituality and intelligence we shared. I closed my eyes, basking in this love light, relishing the warm, vibrant feelings that flooded through me."

Love it seems is more than the simple feelings we call love. In Heaven love is compounded to a higher degree as it is pure there and it is a light which emanates from God. See Leviticus 9:6, 23. Love it seems is more than an embrace of the arms but an actual embracing of God of the person whom He loves, a warming of the inner soul which no man or woman can give. A higher love which we cannot bestow to another, only God can bestow such a love that can be felt inwardly, a most beautiful feeling.

It is hoped that this will be accepted as another definition of "love."

 

[moegypt]

Love.. Which love?

love god.
love father and mother.
love your wife
love the sky and sea.
love your sisters and brothers.

Love is life.

 

[ayani]

it is so difficult to put these things in words....

i think you are right, Kavin.

love is intimacy, connection, freedom. it is both private and expansive, and ineffable.