Love Happens

I know a fella who's having some trouble with love. He's in a quandry. He's to the point of wondering whether love is good or bad. I figure when you've gotten that confused over it, it must feel like a pretty bad thing. But, just because it might feel that way doesn't mean it is that way.

There are folks we choose to love, and those we love because we can't help it. Sometimes the first kind of love conflicts with the second kind. It's damned inconvenient sometimes. For instance, consider being commited to someone through choosing to love him/her, then meeting another who knocks your socks off. Love is like sh*t; it happens. Then you're left trying to figure out how to deal with the mess you're in.

I guess a situation like this would be easier to deal with if one had no conscience. But then, it also would seem to me that you can't really love anyone unless you do have a conscience. It's that whole 'golden rule' thing, I guess.

My friend has an enormous heart, and an equally sizable conscience. I'm guessing he feels pretty cursed right now. He can't make a decision about his situation without hurting somebody.

Regardless, all in all, I think love, real love, in and of itself, is always good. The capacity to love is the one most beautiful thing humanity has with which to redeem itself. When it's real, whether one chooses to love, or it just happens, love is always good, and never wrong.

A lot of things would be easier without it, but the world would have no color without it.

A quote I once read sticks in my mind: "The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears." It's love that enables the soul to make the interpretation from a swath of disparate colors to the beauty of the rainbow.

Love is rarely painless, but always good.