"Don't You Love to be Loved?"

One of my favorites, and the subject of an earlier writing, is Janis Joplin. I’m still known to say, “Don’t you just love being loved”, one of Joplin’s famous sayings, and you can still catch me singing “Mercedes Benz” on a rather common basis. Janis wasn’t the only one to sing about love in those bygone days of the roots of rock music, the music that changed the sound of the radio, caused fear in our parents, is still played today, and gave us permission to be just plain weird. Jefferson Airplane, The Beatles, Mott the Hoople, The Rolling Stones, Nazareth, and Joe Cocker, just to name a few, all sang of the oldest and purest emotion to humans, love. Sure, they also introduced us to the world of altered states of awareness through psychedelics, pharmaceuticals, and cannabis, but that’s for another time.

From the time we leave the womb, screaming and kicking into a scary bright and cold world, until the time we leave the world to return to our Creator, we are creatures in search of love and acceptance. Our arms reach out for comfort, seeking warmth and love and food from our mothers, a bond that should be never ending. We later seek the love of father, of siblings, of friends, until we reach the adolescence of our lives and seek the love of another person, looking for the mate who we will marry and together, begin and nurture the process over once again.

Unfortunately, the word love has lost much of its meaning in our world. We might say, “I love chocolate (and yes I do)”, or “I love puppies (my 70 pound Reggie or my little Charlie)”, or “I love the beach (I prefer the mountains)”, or as Janis would say, “I love being loved”. So many loves in our lives that the significance of the word becomes like ketchup, it goes good with anything. Love has transgressed from an emotion of pure intimacy to a word that lacks intimacy, void of any true significance.

Love is a fluid concept that holds no concrete boundaries. It is impossible to prove and both risky to give and receive. Love is giving a piece of one’s heart to another, and taking a piece of theirs. Love causes intense and severe pleasures to run through our bodies, hearts, souls, and minds, and it is the culprit of the most intense pain we will ever experience. Love only exists in the choice to believe in its existence, to have faith in its unseen reality, to make ones self vulnerable and to hold the secrets of another that can destroy a human heart. Love is made from a God who is the only true Being who can grasp the concept of such a word, of such an emotion, completely and wholly.

To understand love, one must understand the reality of the one who Created Love, otherwise, it becomes a mere word, to describe a human connection as well as a favorite salad dressing. And how can one human love himself if he cannot grasp the concept of Love in Loving his Creator? Or how can one truly experience and trust love, of self, towards another, or from another, if he refuses to have faith in loves Creator. Love is so simple and yet so complicated, as is faith, and as is God.

The love of God is Holy, Complete, Unshakable, Unmistakable, and difficult to understand through the minds of humans who from the days of creation have attempted to deny the Creator and elevate self to His status. Yes, it is great to be loved, it is great to love, and it is far better to learn from the Savior how to love when persecuted, when treated unkind, when life becomes unfair, when rejected and abused, and when those we love are taken from our earthly presence.

God shows us unconditional and never ending love. I challenge you, my reader and friend, to look deep within your soul and discover the walls you have built through fear, rejection, pain, sorrow, addiction, and false beliefs, that are keeping you from loving and being loved. You are a child of the King, who loves his children, forever. Let loose that which binds your soul, heart, and mind, keeping you from embracing that which is pure and Holy. Enter into a loving relationship with your God, with yourself, and with others. Seek the guidance and love from those who understand it, who respect it, who treasure it, and who are safe in it.  Even as an introvert, I love to be loved, and so do you.


(The writings in this post are random thoughts and observations and are NEVER intended as professional or personal advice. Take what works and leave the rest. For information on mental health and/or substance abuse help, visit http://www.rodneyvalandra.com and refer to the links page.)