SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS ON LOVE
The 3rd century Roman
saint Valentine reminds us of the celebration of love on his death anniversary that occurs
on 14th February. He was born at Terni In Italy in 226 AD and was
beheaded in Rome on 14 February 269 AD. According
to one story , he was executed for having refused to deny Christ by the order
of Emperor Claudius, and according to another
for falling in love with the blind daughter of his jailor. An interesting fact
about the time of his execution is that
before his head was cut off, he restored the sight and hearing of his lady
love.
The dictionary meaning of valentine
is “someone you love”, and a saint is a person who has been posthumously recognised as such by the Christian church for having led a very
good or holy life.
Synonyms of the word love are : affection, friendliness,
adoration, warmth, tenderness, liking, fondness, intimacy, attachment.
St. Valentine is now considered
a martyr for having been clubbed to death because of loving someone.
February 14th is celebrated as St. Valentine Day
when, according to ancient tradition, the
birds choose their mates for the year.
Social and cultural history reveals that it was an old custom
in England to draw lots for lovers on this day, the person being drawn being
the drawer’s valentine and being given a present, sometimes of an expensive
kind, but oftener of a pair of gloves . Now this tradition is frequently represented by a greeting card
of a sentimental or humorous character.
Love is a sacred word.
It is related to the holy affections of the heart and has a fadeless spiritual colour. In this world
of pain and pleasure, one does need an alter ego with whom to share one’s thoughts and feelings. Love is a delightful companionship;
the lack of it is an agonising loneliness.
A character in Morris L. West’s The Devil’s Advocate
published by Dell Publishing Company, New York, 1959 says, “ It is no new thing to
be lonely. It comes to all of us sooner or later. Friends die, families die.
Lovers and husbands, too. We get old, we get sick. And the last and the greatest
loneliness is death…. There are no pills to cure that. No formulas to charm it away.
It’s a condition of men that we cannot escape. “
Love and loneliness go together. This is undeniable. The
experience of love is the spark and energy of excitement and joy; it is what makes
friendship a lifetime value and what makes activity purposeful.
Here is a suggestion: Love one human being purely and warmly,
and you will love all. The heat in this heaven, like the sun in its course,
sees nothing, from the dewdrop to the ocean, but a mirror which it brightens and
warms and fills.
Lastly an extract from the poem Dover Beach written by
the English poet Mathew Arnold (1822-1888):
“Ah, love let us be
true/To one another ! for the world, which seems/To lie before us like a
land of dreams,/So various, so beautiful, so new, /Hath really neither joy, nor
love, nor light, /Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain:/ And we are here
as on a darkling plain/Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,/Where
ignorant armies clash by night.”
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14th
February 2021 G.R.Kanwal
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