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By Chris Quilpa

It’s that time of year again to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and to express, in various ways, our love and affection towards our beloved or special someone in our life, with a special treat, like dinner for two in a fancy restaurant, a bunch of fresh red roses or a box of her favorite chocolate.

On a serious note, let’s talk about love, its perspectives and the power of love in our life.

The embodiment of true, everlasting love and sacrifice and suffering, Jesus Christ commanded us, believers and followers, to “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

American guitarist and musician James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix once said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

Dr. David R. Hawkins, author and founder of the Institute for Advanced Spiritual Research, wrote, “The more we give love, the greater our capacity to do so.”

In his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, Nobel Peace Prize winner and first black president of South Africa Nelson Mandela, wrote, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner, once said, “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

Love is real and natural. Love reigns supreme. Love wins. Love abounds. Love is boundless and overflowing.

It has been said that love is the most potent, most powerful force in the universe. Why? Because it can hurt, it can soothe, heal and reassure. It can placate and unite. It can excite and put one or two into a state of ecstasy, and create a new life, gradually and eventually.

Our concept of love varies from age to age, from one condition or situation to another in life.

Indeed, variations on the theme of love are bountiful and everywhere — in music, arts and culture and theater, in literature, religion and relationships, in politics and psychology.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Let love reign in your hearts always! Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

Chris A. Quilpa, a retired U.S. Navy veteran, lives in Suffolk. Email him at chris.a.quilpa@gmail.com.