I Believe in Love

I am a fan of love.  And since it's Valentine's Day, in the words of Natalie Cole, "I've got love on my mind" - more so than usual, that is.  The problem is, I don't know how to devote an entire post to love without incessantly quoting love songs....or movies....I guess because they all just say it so well.  So, this is my tribute to:

Romantic Love
"Above all things I believe in love.  Love is like oxygen.  Love is a many-splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love! ~ Moulin Rouge

"Love doesn't come in a minute.  Sometimes it doesn't come at all.  I only know that when I'm in it, it isn't silly - no, it isn't silly, love isn't silly at all."              ~ Paul McCartney & Wings

"The way you cut a rug, watching you is the only drug I need.  So gangster, I'm so thug, you're the only one I'm dreaming of.  
You see, I can be myself now finally.  In fact, there's nothing I can't be.  I want the world to see you'll be with me...."
 ~ Train

"Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back.  And how do you find him?  Forget your head and listen to your heart... Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back.  Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this.  To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all.  You have to try.  Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived." ~ Meet Joe Black

As Lumiere once sighed, "Ah, l'amour...."  And for those like me who may not have a romantic love of their own, it's okay - we just haven't met them yet!


"Brotherly" (Family) Love

"Meet Joe Black" is one LOOOOONG movie....but it does have some great quotes.  One in particular really captures the unconditional love among a family.  When asked how he knows if his wife loves him, Jeffrey Tambor's character lovingly explains, "Because she knows the worst thing about me and it's okay."  Even when I feel flawed and inadequate, my family's love is always constant, giving me strength and buoying me up to become better.  Having the love and support of my parents, my siblings, and my extended family is truly one of the most precious gifts I have ever been blessed with.  I am truly thankful for the love of my family.

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”  ~ Dr. Seuss

Friendship Love
"Friends help you when you're in danger, friends are people who are not strangers.  Friends help you shift to a new place, tell you if you've got food on your face."  ~ Flight of the Conchords 

 








"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."  

 

"I get by with a little help from my friends." 

~ The Beatles

Charity - the Pure Love of Christ

"And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.....charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever..."  (The Book of Mormon, Moroni 7:45-47)

Of course the greatest love that has cause for celebration on this holiday that celebrates love is the pure love of Christ.  It is His love that gives power to all other forms of love, and is perfect and eternal.  I love this quote by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

"Life has its share of some fear and some failure. Sometimes things fall short, don’t quite measure up. Sometimes in both personal and public life, we are seemingly left without strength to go on.  Sometimes people fail us, or economies and circumstance fail us, and life with its hardship and heartache can leave us feeling very alone.  But when such difficult moments come to us, I testify that there is one thing which will never, ever fail us. One thing alone will stand the test of all time, of all tribulation, all trouble, and all transgression.  One thing only never faileth—and that is the pure love of Christ....I testify that having loved us who are in the world, Christ loves us to the end.  His pure love never fails us.  Not now.  Not ever.  Not ever."  ("He Loved Them Unto the End," Ensign, Nov. 1989, 25.)

"In His Light" by Greg Olsen

I add my testimony to Elder Holland's.  I know that Christ's love is real, perfect, powerful, and true - and it is available every single day of the year, not just on Valentine's Day.  It is my hope that I can learn to love a little bit more like the Savior each day.

And may we continue to celebrate love all year long.