by onacruse 37 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
aickichristian, I don't have audio on my computer...within the limits of my deliberately chosen ineteractive parameters, you must use your own written words.
Pahpa, we may not have the differentiation in English, but surely there is more than that? In any language, the 'language' of the heart is definable, in some way?
Thus my question.
The Biblical answer 1 John 4:8 God is love
Human terms, something that is almost impossible to describe, to me it isn't something that can be measured or explained with ease.
It is doing whatever is in the other persons interests without repayment, without thought, without being forced or prompted, to give of oneself without reservation and yet at the same time being realistic to overlook the most simplistic of stupid mistakes without holding a grudge or taking any further actions except to love and forgive. It is truly putting the other if front of you.
abr
Love comes as the result of matching your deepest values with an object that embodies those values the closest.
Love is a kind of judgement made after an appraisal using a standard that makes sense to you.
Most familiarly, love is the involuntary emotion that follows the recognition of meeting the embodiment of our strongest values.
Many people have great difficulty explaining "why" they love somebody or something. This follows from the fact that they aren't fully conscious that their value system is at work!
After all, what we place a very high value on is best understood when a conscious choice is involved rather than a "default" of passive absorption.
What we are is largely a matter of chance DNA-wise since none of us gets to choose our own parents. Our enviornment only becomes something we select after we are out of our family setting. Consequently, most of the values we absorb is by a kind of passive osmosis!
The pictures we see, stories we read, ethics we observe and sense of reality we embrace can easily be beyond our conscious control. While all that soaking up of random values is going on we might find it is the destructive or ill-advised we end up with as our "standard".
How many souls have dashed on the rocks by falling in love with people and things that are destructive to them and they are at a loss to explain why?
LOVE is purely conceptual. If we had the laser focus of a jury foreman as we selected each fact and each definition about everything that goes into our mind we would all end up in LOVE with the very best of life. As it is---it is only by crashing our life over and over on wrong choices that we wise up and become alert to the "default" values that lead to those involuntary emotions!
As far as what we read in the bible about God's love---it makes absolutely no logical sense whatsoever!
Justice is based on people getting exactly what they deserve according to what they do or fail to do. For God to Love us; that love would have to match his sense of values about what is right and wrong. To forgive people when they do not deserve to be forgiven is a violation of God's own values. Consequently, what we are TOLD is God's "grace" is merely a fantasy definition by bible writers who are hoping and guessing they know--when they really cannnot.
The worst definitions of LOVE embody a kind of insensible "giving" unconnected to the reality of whether the recipient has done anything to deserve what is given.
At best, LOVE should be an investment of trust and expectation that a positive action (being loved) can make the difference in improving the life of the "other". But, it cannot be a blank check or it is moronic gambling on mere whim.
LOVE has to be mutual to make any sense. So many lives have been ruined because of misunderstanding what values lie behind the rush of strong emotions that follow.
Change your values and you change what you love.
Love is like money; invest it wisely in a structure that affords growth and prosperity and everybody wins. Gamble it away on whim and ignorant indulgence and it leads to ruin.
A friend once told me that love isn't how you feel about the person, it's how that person makes you feel.
Hmmmmm..................
what is hate?
Love is a feeling of attachment to someone and a strong desire for their good will!
minimus:
Ona, since you're being so deep (again) lately, what's your answer to these questions?
That's a very fair question. I would not have asked this question (passive/aggressive though I tend to be, at times ), but there are many times when I question myself as to what I ever believed about myself, and human nature, can ever be really be defined, after all. As a JW, I was sure that I had all the answers. It's been a long long time since I had that level of self-assurance. In that same respect, intellectuality can be one of the most impenetrable emotional shields, and which yet must melt away in the face of such a perhaps seemingly simple question as above. I'm trying to melt those shields.
Ona, do you think that maybe you just think a little toooooooooooooooooo much? I'm serious. Relax a bit. You know what love and hate and indifference is. You just know.
What is Love is the title of a number of songs including:
Ona, do you think that maybe you just think a little toooooooooooooooooo much? I'm serious. Relax a bit.
LOLOL...and here you give me the same advice that I've given to others...geez, I hate it when my words are thrown back at me!
You're right. I think I'll take a bit of a break.
