Agape

So this week I've been thinking a lot about love.  I've been thinking a lot about how I feel towards other people, to really examine the relationship, to see were I stand with them.  Mostly I've been looking for this particular type of love, the Greeks defined it as Agape, or a deep passionate love or Godly love.  This opposed to Filao, or a friendly love.  Agape to me is allusive. When I start getting to know someone I don't necessarily focus on getting to Agape love right of the bat, but I definitely look to further my relationship until I reach Agape.  To me the feeling materializes in the reference of a name, if I get the warm fuzzies by the mere mention of a name.  I know I'm almost at that Agape love. To me the feeling is knowing that I would do anything for that person, that I long to know more about them, to make their life the best it can possibly be, to want to be a great friend to them.  I know I've achieved that Agape love when it is so easy to seed my pride over to further that other persons life. Or that to be generous to them doesn't even register as strange or unnatural, but as a regular extension of our interaction.  But most importantly, I know that Agape has taken me over when, in times of tragedy or triumph, I don't just feel for them, but I feel like them. That because of that love for them, I've learned to understand who they are, their inner thoughts and feelings, and that when they cry or laugh I don't only know their pain or joy, but I can be in their experience with them.

That my friends I feel is the crux of life, I think lately I've been sitting passively, waiting for others to make that Agape feeling real for me. But I've realized that to make that connection, to establish that love for another you have to work for it.  And if I truly believe in that love, that its the best thing life has to offer, than I have to be willing to work for it with all my heart.  No more self-pity of "why does nobody care for me", or "why do people not see the good things about me", its not about me. If someone wants to feel how I feel, I will welcome them with open arms, but that doesn't me I can't strive for Agape with another irregardless.  Fairness in love is not about meeting someone half-way, but going the whole distance for them in the hopes they will go the whole distance for you in return.  Life is Agape.