What is Love?

According to Hellen Keller…

Love is an invisible thread that connects one existence to another.
"Love is something like the clouds that were the sky before the sun came out“

Can you touch the cloud?

"You cannot touch the clouds, you know; but you feel the rain and how glad the flowers and the thirsty earth are to
have it after a hot day. You cannot touch love either; but you feel the sweetness that pours into everything. Without
love, you would not be happy or want to play."

The beautiful truth burst upon my mind – I felt that these were invisible lines stretched between my spirit and the
spirit of others.

According to St. Paul…

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is
not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong doing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
-1 Corinthians 13

Misinterpretations on the Concept of Love

= it is often downgraded to a feeling

 Sensational so that it often becomes periodic
 Seen as a Feeling that easily change or swayed
Love is an EXPERIENCE
 We do
 We choose to do
*Kahindik hindik kaya madalas nagiging pana-panahon*
*feeling that easily change or swayed = kaya nga nagiging madaling sabihin ang salitang pagod na ako.*

The concept of "Love at first sight"

 Sometimes it is no more than a spur of the moment

 Impulse – often equated as love itself
 Impulse – kaya nga minsan mapusok ang mga nagmamahal.

The Concept of "Falling in Love"

"Falling" indicates an entity traversing from one place to another because it is in a SEPARATE CONTEXT. Since love is
an INTRINSIC GRACE.

*Intrinsic Grace means biyayang nadiyan na mula nang tayo ay likhain*

Fall X – Grow / - Mature /

That is why we do not fall on it but rather we grow it in us. Mas lumalaki o lumalawak ang kakayahang nating
magmahal.

"Falling"
= opens up the possibility of being broken and hurt, especially when no cushion is there to absorb the impact of the
fall.

A derailed sense of "LOVE CONQUERS ALL"

  In the words of Balagtas, "Pag-ibig, kapag pumasok sa puso nino man, hahamakin ang lahat, masunod
lamang."
 At some point, we are on the losing end of "hahamakin ang lahat" to the point of downgrading ourselves in
the guise of being in love.

Some Things to Note about Love

1.) Attraction is the beginning and not the end of love

 attraction draws us to know a person so that upon acknowledging him/her, one can proceed to a
commitment.
 Infatuation when uncheck becomes a threatening obsession.

2.) The act of loving is a choice we freely do.

 it is not supposed to be persuade.
 it is not about "kaya" or "hindi kaya" but rather "ginusto" o "ayaw" that is why it is possible to love even the
unlovable so long as we choose to.

3.) True love is given and not found

 True love is when we choose to love truly. As for the questions of whether someone truly love us or not, one
can only choose to give an unquestionable trust until given a reason to doubt.

4.) Love is supposed to bring one growth

 If love does not lead a person to realize his/her most beautiful self, one should reconsider if an experience is
love or merely an adrenaline rush.

GROWING THE LOVE WE EXPERIENCE

1.) Growing love through commitment and fidelity

 Commitment entails a life-long choice to love.
 To love is to constantly find reason to love.
● What does love and fidelity mean?
● Fidelity includes refraining from physical contact—but that is not all. Fidelity also means complete
commitment, trust, and respect between husband and wife. Inappropriate interactions with another
person can erode fidelity.
To love is to constantly find reason to love. Often, the reason we have for loving somebody are fragile.

2.) Maturing Love through Love Language

Words of Affirmation
 Not to make other be arrogant but to remind them that they are good.
 To affirm is not to overlook ones shortcoming but to choose to see the positive aspect that can help mend
ones crooked ways.

Gift Giving
 To give gifts is not to put a price n the loving experience but to express that it is valued especially because
the human person is a material being, a physical being, so that one tends to seek to sense in order to
experience.

Acts of Service
 To journey with rather than to carry others load.
 The objective is to ease the burden and not make a parasite out of the people we love.

Physical Touch
 Tap on the shoulder, hugs, kisses, etc to confirm our presence.
  At some point, the touch we give is a way of channeling to the persona force needed expecially when one is
down and almost broken, if not already shattered.

Quality Time
 Presence is ones greatest present
 In the story of Little prince, what made his rose so beautiful was the amount of time he spent valuing it.
 Di lahat ng luma ay antic. Yung iba, basura lang kasi napabayaan.

THE LOVE THAT JESUS TEACHES US

Jesus’ Concept of Love

 Love that liberates rather than possesses or oppresses

 Love that empowers
 Love that leads to God.