What is Love?

[Tarzan]

I've been given some bible literature to read, and that brought me back to my original post about unconditional love. It is said that God has unconditional love, but the bible confirms that even God wants something in return for his love! God expects us to follow his rules and to worship him. If we don't do as he wishes us to do, he gets angry and punishes us. Not only that, but he punishes all our ancestors for thousands of years as well. When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, God punished us all from that time until the present. In my opinion, a loving parent would teach their children the error of their ways, but would never go so far as to punish the grandchildren for the sins of the parents.

As if the punishment due to Adam and Eve was not enough, God then wiped every living creature off the face of the planet, save for Noah and his shipmates. That is not a display of love in my eyes. To me this is proof that as mere mortals, the idea of unconditional love is impossible, for even God is not able to love unconditionally.

That is why we all need to 'get' something from our relationships, and why relationships need to be constantly fed.

[Tarzan]

I just found this:
Sexuality Is Written in the Genes

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/health/10gene.html?ei=5070&en=60264ef6259fc3bd&ex=1176868800&adxnnl=1&emc=eta1&adxnnlx=1176281295-ESMq1GDAriQXnNkzh7ZhmA

Since this topic is about love, these findings might be of interest.

[Tarzan]

I have been struggling with the answer to the question, ‘What is love?’ for several years. I was always thinking in the literal and definitive sense and that is why I was never very successful. Recently, I have been spending a lot of time on the phone helping people with their emotional issues and during our conversations the topic of love is a major component. It was during one of these conversations that I finally came up with what I believe to be a universal answer to that question.

Since every person is an individual, their definition of love is as individual as they are; therefore a figurative definition for love is required. That way, each individual will tailor the definition (in their mind) to suit themselves.

Love is like a plant: Its roots are made up of respect, trust, and admiration. The roots lie beneath the soil, which is the subconscious mind. They are definitely there, but are often obscured from our conscious mind. If the roots are not strong, the resulting plant is also not strong. The nourishment that the roots pick up are the things that one does to reflect the respect, trust and admiration one has for another. These are the things that we are experiencing (the emotions) when we receive love (or feel loved). If we receive lots of nourishment, the plant (love) grows rapidly. Often, the plant will burst with lovely flowers that everyone can see! If the nourishment supply slows, then the plant’s growth also slows. If there is damage to one of the basic components of the plant’s root system, then the plant is not able to receive nourishment  effectively. This will also slow the supply of nourishment, even though the soil may be rich with nutrients (the love of another). In this case,  the plant must  divert its energy into repairing the damaged roots. Otherwise, the plant will continue growing above the soil until there is an imbalance between the needs of the plant and the ability of the roots to fulfill those needs, and the plant will slowly starve to death.