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I Believe in Love
by Christopher Stone
By Love I mean not just the deep joy of affection, the dizzying ecstasy of new romance, or the security of home and the comfort of habit. Love is not less than these things, but it is greater also. It is the determination to work for the true welfare of others and oneself, to build up in goodness and to encourage in virtue: a matter of the intellect and the will as much as of the feelings. It is not licence to do as one pleases in the name of love, but is subject always to objective morality.
Love is not moody or fragile. It endures hardship, tragedy, and (perhaps most often) apathy, all without giving up or feeling sorry for itself. Although it may be spurned--sometimes even abused and brutalized--I believe that such Love is never ultimately in vain. It does not easily take offence, does not assume the worst, and does not demonize or bear grudges. It is patient, kind, long-suffering, gentle, quick to forgive and to ask forgiveness, taking no pleasure in anyone's misfortunes. Love may know much sorrow, but never despair, for I believe--unlikely as it may seem at times--that this Love is the very foundation of all reality.
Because I cannot believe that the Good arose from the random flux of the atoms, or Mind from mindless matter, I am convinced that Love is more fundamental than the Cosmos itself, and is in fact its source. When time has run its course, when the galaxies have vanished and the last black hole has evaporated, Love will remain unchanged. Moreover, I believe that all rational creatures who have cast their lot with Love will live on in organic unity, sharing the eternal fulfilment and bliss that only such Love can provide.
There is no withdrawn haziness or sentimental indulgence in Love. It is intensely personal, and of such searing purity as to evoke holy dread as well as desire in those who know it. Love can never be parted from the Good. In the end, when every tear has been wiped away, justice will indeed roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. This, our fondest hope, is also a sobering prospect for any self-aware person.
I believe in a Love so great that it found a way to subsume Justice in Mercy: the reed, though bent, will not be broken off. Stricken and rebellious as we are, Love reaches down to us, stronger than any potential foe. When in seeming weakness Love hung naked on a Roman gallows, marrying Justice and Mercy in one shattering moment, then Love was in fact at its strongest, and even death was powerless to hold it. In all the eternity thus bought for us, we shall never be able to fathom the depths of that Love--only praise it and enjoy it for ever.
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Salt Lake Community College - 4600 South Redwood Road - Salt Lake City, Utah 84123
(801) 957-SLCC (957-7522)