Love Is

"If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. (John 13:14, KJV)" "There are supposedly several kinds of love. I’m not talking about the youthful infatuation love or the sexual attraction, hormonal love. I’m talking about a more mature, lasting love. The love I’m talking about doesn’t end when the next hot girl walks by or when the new sexy phone comes out.""It all started when the little lap-dog died and my wife freaked out. While I found it sad, she was really mourning. She really loved the animal, and millions of people have the same sentiment. According to her the reason is that the dog loved her unconditionally. Lots of people say the same thing. That doesn’t make sense. What the world sees as a dog's unconditional love I see as laying around and demanding stuff, like food and walks." "In the months since the pet demise, I’ve concluded that she grew to love the dog because she took care of it. A dog or cat or baby is completely dependent on you. Nobody brings a cat home and immediately loves it. I think the constant care it requires causes the caregiver to love it. To me, nothing else makes sense." "My experience at a nursing home reinforces my theory. The nurse aids, the nurses, the cooks, and housekeepers, loved the residents. They typically don't have “professional detachment”. When a resident was sick or passed away the caregivers were deeply hurt and mourned. Caregivers didn’t love them before they checked in, but grew to love them. By caring for someone, you grow to love them." "It’s like in “Fiddler On the Roof”. Tevye, the main character, had an arranged marriage to his wife,Golde. The first time they met was on their wedding day, so there was no love at the beginning. In the play Tevye asks Golde if she loves him. Eventually, she supposes that after taking care of him for 25 years she loves him. I think that growth into love is almost always true." "In the above passage from the Bible, Jesus cares for his disciples. He commands his followers to do the same for each other. I think this is so they’ll each grow to love the other disciples. He repeatedly tells us to love one another. He also repeatedly tells Peter to feed and tend his sheep. If gather that this is so Peter and remaining apostles will love others." "If I’m right, then love doesn’t have to be reciprocal. My wife loves her dog even if it doesn’t, or can’t love her. Golde can love Tevye, even if he doesn’t reciprocate.If I'm correct, then Jesus can, and does love us in spite of us not loving. By his caring for us even though it caused him intense pain, it proves his eternal love. If we serve others we’ll grow to love them. That’s a powerful love." "Fini."