spotted: love is all around

Good thing I found a little window of time to write my thoughts down before LIFE PURSUITS Conference begins in three hours.

As I was having lunch at Virramall a while ago. As I waited for food to be served, I found myself in the middle of a section comprising five tables, mine being at the very center. All four tables on my both sides were occupied by dating couples! It felt a wee bit weird for a time because I thought any one can spot obvious the difference! And so, I figured it wasn't a big deal that I was eating alone in what seemed to be a couples only section, I observed. I observed love.

There is no doubt that many of us could provide a working definition of love. We would say something about being selfless, we might describe a feeling, we might even say something of a romantic nature if we’re talking about our partner. Maybe, someone would quote a scripture verse or two about God's love and love for neighbor.

I always believed that the best way to know what someone believes about love is to watch that person love. If you spend some time around a couple you begin to understand something about the nature of their love, or lack thereof. Watch parents with their child and you will have a sense of the quality of their love. If you spend enough time with two friends you will know intuitively whether love exists in their relationship or if their bond is about something else.

Observing love may be a limited way of defining the nature of love. After all, a couple may act differently around others than they do when their alone. In some sense, that's good. We might say that emotions aren’t always observable. We cannot determine what someone is feeling generally by observing them occasionally. Furthermore, some people can fake it really well. But when we really spend enough time around someone we can begin to determine something of the nature of their relationships and commitments. In other words, if you want to know what someone believes or values watch them love.

I love to see love all around. But like they say, "there's more to life than just watching people live it!"