I was watching a program on television last week. It was a private eye/attorney/sitcom.
A man was murdered in that segment. After much speculation, investigation and interrogation, the mystery was solved. It was his lover who killed him.
Sweetheart likes to watch true murder mysteries. In every instance, the police investigators start their search for the suspect with the spouse, paramour, lover or significant other. Now, why would they begin there?
A few decades ago a new category of crime was added to the justice system called a “hate crime.” I have never heard anybody accused or convicted of a love crime, All of those people I just referred to were supposed to love the victims—at least at one time.
Did they not really love the people they murdered in the first place? How could a person kill someone s/he professed to love? How could love turn to hatred? Did they not really know what love is? Were they never taught what love is, or have it shown to them?
Where does love come from? Is it a feeling? Does it come from the heart? Are there two chambers in the heart that emanate love from one side and hatred from the other? Do they sometimes spill over from one side to the other? Or, is love a decision—one that is made for a lifetime, one day, one moment at a time?
Whether love is a feeling or a decision, it’s the way that we express our love that makes all of the difference. It depends on what we believe love is. We can’t leave the definition up to each individual, or we end up with the scenarios Sweetheart and I see on television. This is the way I’ve had it explained to me:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” I Corinthians 4-8 NAB
I think the perpetrators in those stories could have stayed out of jail if they had followed that advice. They could have been a lot happier, too.
Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or send a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com