Storge, Eros, Philos, Agape

I’m packing up my apartment to leave Anaheim, but I am awfully mentally distracted. So I find myself at the library returning my books and begging for mercy over the DVD I left in Fillmore…and using the internet for a half hour. Today I drove to Pasadena to visit my Grandpa for what turned out to be an emotional visit. It is hard to see him confused and wrestling with things over which I wish he could be at peace.

I know I am not alone in wishing that English had more words to express “love.” The Greeks had three words for different types (family, friends, and romantic) and had to add a fourth after God sent His Son. (It would be cool to read the New Testament in Greek and realize the different types of love it mentions.) We’ve watered down the word until the meaning is confused. We add clarifying expressions, but it is still hard to know what people mean. Then you have different levels of love. How can it be that a couple who has been married for 60 years like my grandparents uses the same phrase as a couple who has been together 60 months or even 60 days? Yet, there is also something beautiful in that continuity, i.e. I still love you but more than ever.

What about when you feel different types of love for the same person? How do you differentiate those with one word? I guess that is why relationships are so important. There is an element of trust and understanding required to bridge gaps of meaning. We do not have to say, “I storge you, I eros you, and I agape you.” Still, sometimes I think it would be helpful as well as meaningful. Plus, people express love in different ways, and I mean verbally as well as the love languages.

This is a subject much on my mind. May God teach all of us to love well.

Also, today driving back from Pasadena, a pastor on a radio broadcast mentioned that there are 50 chapters in the Old Testament devoted to the tabernacle. Obviously, God thinks it is important, and I realized it is because it is so important for Him to dwell with us. All of the articles within the tabernacle point to Jesus; they are signs for different aspects of Christ. God does not spend 50 chapters talking about sex or marriage or aging or friendship or food or entertainment or anything else that consumes much of our time and thoughts. I guess it’s because those issues are simpler and not as important compared to the great mystery and miracle of God dwelling with us. This was a conviction and an encouragement to me today.