Divine Chocolate, Love and Romance

If you are buying chocolate this Valentine’s Day – look for Divine Chocolate. It’s Fair Trade. All proceeds go directly to the cooperative. It’s delectable.

I took a little time to explore the word love – its history, meanings and etymology. This exploration took me on an interesting journey. Come along with me.

As a noun love can mean “affection” and “friendliness.” As a verb it means “to care” or “to desire.”

Another word with the same meaning was the word “believe,” from the Old English belyfan. Originally “believe” meant “to hold dear,” or “to desire.”

In the late 12th century we find the word “belief” from the Old English geleafa, meaning “hold dear” or “love.” Originally, it was not connected in any way with our modern idea of religion or faith.

Jesus understood this original meaning (Mark 2:5, 5:34, 10:52, 11:22). The word in the original Greek of the New Testament is pistis. Jesus exclaimed that God healed because of the recipients’ own pistis – to have belief in this sense of “to hold dear,” and “to desire.” Pistis can be translated “to have faith” from the Latin root word fidere, meaning “to commit to,” or “to trust.” Jesus was clear that God healed wherever there was trust, desire and commitment – in other words surrender to something larger than oneself.

A theological meaning for the word “faith” as in “faith that Jesus was God” doesn’t attach to the word until the late 14^th century.

Lastly I looked up another word often used along with the word “love” – the word “compassion.” Its root meaning is “to suffer with” (Latin, com-pati). This is the ability to see the world through someone else’s eyes; to identify with someone so closely that we suffer with them when they suffer. This requires being open enough to come to know the other person, no matter how different they are, or how much we may think we dislike them.

In the end, our growth comes through our commitment and desire to become compassionate – the ability to suffer with others. To move beyond the Golden Rule of treating others the way we want to be treated – to knowing enough about others to treat them the way they want to be treated.

Now this is romance. This will allow us to fall in love with the world – right where we are, as we are. No chocolate, flowers or date required. This is the ultimate romance that will change the world.

Fall in love with the world and life becomes very romantic. Do what you love with people you enjoy. Then you will be living a fabulous life. If romance with another person crosses your path, well that is just icing on this already many-layered cake!

Treat yourself for Valentine’s Day – Bread and Tulips is a film about falling in love with life – and accepting it as it really is – rather than how we would like it to be. Once we truly accept the reality of our lives we can make real changes to live authentically and with integrity. Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler is a provacative book along the same lines.

A special Valentine’s Day message to my DH – You bring out the best in me. Sharing our life journeys has been an unexpected gift. It is a joy to live with someone who shares my values and passion for social justice. I admire your volunteer work and writing to move the political discourse in our community forward. Your ability to listen and share thoughtfully keep me grounded. You find beauty in unexpected places. Life with you is the best Valentine!