Love

@Qaeyious (2357)
United States
August 26, 2009 4:15am CST
I was reading the book, Basic Writings of Existentialism that cited a work by Kierkegaard, Works of Love. The quote said that if a person believes that if "we should believe nothing which we cannot see with our eyes, then ... we ought to give up believing in love." I thought that a bit odd, since there are many concepts that we don't see, but we see the effects. I wonder if there should be different words for "love." A love between parent and child is different from the love between two consenting unrelated adults, and probably different from the love between two consenting teenagers, or even children. I will need help from others to get their views and experiences to understand this phenomenon. Trivial uses of "love" like "I love mashed potatoes with peas" I won't consider at this time. The first effect I thought of is dependence on each other. It seems this is most prevalent between parent and child. If the two are separated there is a great amount of stress. On the other side there is the willingness to sacrifice oneself (or a part of oneself) for the other. But I wouldn't say that "love" is dependency or willingness to deprive oneself of something. I would say that these are symptoms. This would include comforting if your loved one is distressed, offering guidance, wisdom, money if it's needed. Now there is another kind of love that is above all these, and that is between all people. These are the people who run in to help when there is an accident, to see what needs to be done. Others may donate their money, energy, or time to help others, total strangers, and seek no reward or recognition of any kind. I would say that is the highest level of love of all. The New Testament has the word, "agape" from the Greek (which the New Testament is written in) - but not too many English speakers know it.
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