What is Love?

What Is Love?
Very few people know what love is. Because we are all egotistical by nature, we have a bias toward thinking that love is what makes us feel good. We say that we "love" ice cream or we love people who support our pride. We dislike what makes us feel bad, and we dislike people who do not see us in a good light.

Real love has an element of correction in it. Real love is emotionless love. Real love has a fatherly quality. The photo is from the movie Boy's Town, starring Spencer Tracy. It tells the wonderful true story of Father Flanagan and his success with wayward orphaned boys. Love has two sides: a tender side and a corrective, no nonsense side.

What we all need is to be corrected of our faults and errors. And our biggest fault, though it is natural, is to be prideful and selfish. However, since we are born this way, if we try to change ourselves, all we do is painfully repress our lower nature.

When others seek to correct us, they often do so in a resentful or vicious way, which tempts us to reject their advice and rebel. Otherwise, their correction is weak--which tempts us to be contemptuous.

Many dads, for example, whose job is to stand in for God until the children grow big enough to choose for themselves, often say what needs to be said, but do so in a weak way. They want to be popular, and do not have the courage or love to be firm.

Our so-called friends mostly support us the way we are. In exchange we support them the way they are. It is thus shallow and has no real love in it.

Real love is honest and wants nothing in return. It points out error in a timely way, awakening us to truth, so that we might see our error.

Years ago, there was something called tough love. Believe it or not, this is what we need.

Ultimately the greatest source of love is our own conscience (intuition) which is from God, and which makes us quietly and gently aware of some error.