LOVE!!!

I’m sure that LOVE must be the most popular word in the world! Who doesn’t talk about love? Who isn’t interested in love? Love sells! When you are talking about love, it is guaranteed that you will have an audience.

Of course, there are different kinds of love; or should I say love is used in different contexts at different times for different purposes.

We, the Christians, have our own brand of love called the Agape love. Agape derives its name from the ancient Koine Greek lingua. It was translated into the English language to mean love and it was appropriated into Christian theology to mean the love of God or Christ for humankind. It refers to the covenant love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God. This also extends to the love of humans for their fellow humans. This ‘brand’ of love is often regarded as the purest and most unselfish kind (even though all types of love are supposed to be unselfish).

But at least, Agape love has a fixed definition. Not so with the other ‘types’ of love. As diverse as the faces of the people on this planet are, so also are there diverse interpretations and analysis of love.

Some will tell you that love is a profoundly tender affection for another person. Some will say it is a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. Yet others will say that it should be a purely altruistic emotion and state of being. Many say that it is sacrificial. They opine that the hallmark of true love is sacrifice and that there should be sacrifices and compromises by both parties.

I have discovered that when it comes to love, every man is a poet! People wax so philosophical when the issue is love and it seems nobody is safe from falling under Cupid’s spell.

A lot of the enduring movies of all time were based on great love stories. Think “Titanic”. Think “Sleepless in Seattle”. Think “Armaggedon,” and you’ll understand what I’m saying better.

A lot of the bestselling books also have love as a major part of their plot. Songs have a better chance of selling out if they are based on love, and so it is no wonder to find a lot of musicians crooning about love/sex. I’m tempted to use the words “love” and “sex” interchangeably because in the world of today, these two words are often misconstrued to mean the same thing.

Some people say that love doesn’t exist but they never shy away from hiding under its cloak to perpetrate crimes of love. For people like that, love is a readily available tool of deceit to help them in achieving their selfish aim.

Love wears many hats as a matter of fact. Earlier on, I mentioned how love is responsible for the success of a lot of films, books and basically the pop culture in its entirety.

However, love is also responsible for most of the violent crimes, war and injustice ever perpetrated in the history of the world.

Battles have been fought all because of love! A lot of the deadly clashes between cultists in a lot of our higher institutions started all because of love (even the toughest of hearts are not love proof!). The story of life begins with love, and yet love is also the story of death.

Pause!!!! Let’s think in another direction. Does love truly exist? Is it something that is achievable or just a myth that has been so perpetuated in our mindscape over the centuries that we now take it to be the tangible reality?

Or maybe love did exist, but has long gone extinct together with dragons and dinosaurs? Or maybe love should be redefined. Nowadays, love has a very short life span. It seems to be for good for better for best. Nobody is ready to stick with you when it’s bad so if it ever gets worse, you are guaranteed to be on your own. Love is nowadays based on the benefit that is derived from the person who is being loved. For example, a girl will keep loving her boyfriend as long as he keeps the cash flowing in her direction (I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “No romance without finance”). A guy will also stay in love with a girl so long as she gives him a piece of the action regularly. It’s sick!

Everywhere I turn, I hear people talking about love and my stomach revolts. I rarely see love in action. I used to think it was an African thing but now I know better.

Even the Caucasians who I always thought were priests of love are as guilty as the rest of the human race. A white man will buy you flowers; open the car door for you, even lick your toes every night but he will also readily abandon you the moment his fascination with you ebbs. That is why you hear of marriages that last for all of three hours. Like seriously!

Love is a scam! Ask the yahoo boys and 419ers, and they will tell you that a lot of their formats are baited with the promise of love. Love is universal, and so it easily scales the barriers erected by culture, religion and race. A lot of billions of dollars have been lost in the name of love.

Personally, I think love is over-rated. I believe that it exists but it’s not the utopia that we often imagine. Love is more work than fantasy. It is easy to fall in love, but it is harder to stay in love. Falling in love could be spontaneous but staying in love is a conscious decision that you have to make and remake over time. Love must endure certain tests and challenges before it can really be called LOVE. Just like buildings and other products undergo stress tests to ascertain their durability, so also must love pass through the fire of time before it can be properly formed.

Enough of the fast food type of love that a lot of young people practice these days. Inasmuch as love can easily be faked and can be used to deceive, love is also the most beautiful thing on earth for by loving we create, find and then love ourselves. A soul that does not love cannot have peace.

The love story of my parents have proven to me that love does exist and it is in fact a major part of our lives.

I see a lot of things telling me otherwise in the real world, but I believe that true love is achievable although it is difficult to maintain. Love means different things to different people, but to me, I think love is shelter. If you are truly loved and you love people, even if it’s raining bombs and missiles outside, you will find comfort in the hands of your loved ones.

However if there is no love in a person’s life, even if the world is as serene as a dream, such a person will be in internal turmoil because there is no outlet to express his/her feelings.

Love is overrated, but sly devil that it is, its importance can never be overstated.

Work towards love!