Love is Ineffable
Love, such a simple word. You would think that the word we use to describe this incredibly complex and multifaceted subject would be more difficult to say and spell. The sheer sound of this word would terrify you and you would realize the weight and responsibility of this delicate concept. Sadly, it is easy to say and is therefore tossed around without much thought or care. We get so caught up in the idyllic, heavily romanticized assumption of love. We want so badly to feel it and to give it that we end up using and abusing it. Is this love? Or is it our obsession with the idea of love that has created such deception? If we really thought about what true love honestly entails, we would be much more careful with ourselves and others.
My marriage has taught me far more of love than any dictionary definition, as has parenting. Love isn't always romantic or ideal. Love is complicated. Love is consuming. Love is crazy. Love is also all of the things listed in Paul's writings to the Corinthians. Love oversees so many joys, pains, sorrows, regrets, and transgressions. It forgives, sometimes rather slowly.
I've seen people continue to love one another at points where everyone else is telling them to throw in the towel. We've all seen it. We all stand there judging them and their situation as if we have one fraction of an idea how they feel and why. We, all of a sudden, become experts of their love lives and feel it is our duty to tell them what to do. So often, we think we see the situation more clearly and end up baffled by the fact that they pull through and stay together.
Love is ineffable. That may sound like the mutterings of a hopeless romantic, however, that statement remains true from a realist's standpoint. Love is the subject of so many books, movies, sitcoms, and songs. We know love, yet remain confused by it. We desperately continue to explain our own unique and yet somehow similar versions of love. We feel somewhat lost but never alone in our journey. Love is ineffable.