Love

What is love? According to science, love is a complex chemical reaction in our brains...but our physical bodies are based wholy upon physical stimuli--and i dont think love to be merely a physical stimulation. True, attraction is definetly a physical stimulation, but what can cause a high paid, handsome movie star to fall in love with the unattractive woman who doesnt have all the glamour, looks and riches of his peer group; or an old couple to stay together for 50 years, when all physical attractivness has gone, and only wrinkles and grey hairs remain.

Love MUST be more than something that nature has designed for humanity to help couple partners so that procreation can occur. We see that love is not necessary in all other species of animals who simply mate, then move on to their next target to mix up the gene pool a little more. It seems that love, therefore, has no function in procreation whatsoever, and therefore must have zero biological function. The 'purpose' of life, as science might put it, is self preservation and procreation, and love fits neither of these categories.

In fact, love goes against all natural instincts. Putting the needs of another above oneself goes against everything that nature has engrained in the minds of all animals. Whether it be love of a country, love of an infant, or love of a partner; love can manipulate great minds, and change the actions of sane people into those of madmen. Who in their right mind would run into a burning building to save a child? Who would move all their possessions, forgoe their surname and break all family ties to marry someone? Who would run onto a battlefield with death all around them to save people that they do not know? Of all the emotions, love is inarguably the strongest.

There are obviously different kinds of love. I love my parents differently than i will love my wife, and VERY differently than i love all my buddies that i have grown up with. It is love nonetheless, but they are seperate feelings with seperate outcomes.

I dont beleive love at first sight is possible--yes, deep physical attraction at first sight may happen all the time, and i have experienced this, yet i beleive that love takes cultivation--time being a key ingredient to love. To love a person you need to actually KNOW them, to see what makes them tick; what they like and dislike. People in our society today seem to throw around the world "love" so casually that you can love your girlfriend one day, and dump her the next because she tweaked you the wrong way. Love doesnt give up so easily--love isnt perfect, yet it still works out the kinks between two people to show that a relationship can work even in troubling circumstances.

The next time you say "I love you" to someone, whether it be your parent, significant other, or your pet, think to yourself "what would I be ultimately willing to sacrifice for them?" A thousand dollars for a surgery for your pet or waking up in the early hours of the morning to give a friend a ride to the airport may be a small payment compared to the ULTIMATE sacrifice--death. John 15:13 says "...greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Think to yourself--the friends that i TRULY love, the significant other that i REALLY do care about--would i be willing to die for them? THAT is love.