13/07/09

Love is rejoicing over the existence of the beloved one; it is the desire that he be rather than not be; it is longing for his presence when he is absent; it is happiness in the thought of him; it is profound satisfaction over everything that makes him great and glorious. Love is gratitude; it is thankfulness for the existence of the beloved... It is gratitude that does not seek equality; it is wonder over the other's gift of himself in companionship. Love is reverence; it keeps it's distance even as it draws near; it does not seek to absorb the other in the self nor want to be absorbed by it; it rejoices in the otherness of the other; it desires the beloved to be what he is and does not seek to refashion him into a replica of the self... In all love there is an element of that holy fear which is not a form of flight but rather deep respect for the otherness of the beloved and the profound unwillingness to violate his integrity. Love is Loyalty; it is the willingness to let the self be destroyed rather than that the beloved should cease to be