Words of Light and Hope from Fran Neale AWA

Words of Light and Hope – Epiphany 16th February 2025,                                     

As Friday was Valentine’s Day, it seems a moment to think about love in its various forms. We’d probably all agree that there is a difference between what we mean when we say, “I love chocolate” and someone proposing,  saying “I love you”. Apparently the Ancient Greeks had five or even eight words for different sorts of love, whereas we often use one. Here are the five.

Eros. This is what you might call romantic or sexual love. Fairly straightforward.

Storge. This is familial love, a parent for a child, and a child for a parent. One does hear about hideously distorted family relationships, but these are   surely outweighed by the many strong and beautiful relationships there are in families.

Philautia. Self love. Narcissus (in ancient Greek legend) was an extreme   example of this sort of love and gave it a bad press! But we need a basis of self-love from which to love others. And Jesus himself said, “Love your  neighbour as you love yourself.”

Philia. This is best described as deep friendship, brotherly/sisterly love; it is platonic.                                                                                                Agape. Unconditional love; altruistic love. This is of course the sort of love God has for us – and the sort of love we have, or seek to have for our Christian brothers and sisters….and for those in the wider world.

It may be helpful to think about these different aspects, but I suspect there isn’t always a clear distinction between them. Surely there must  be a good deal of altruism in a mother’s love for her child. Feelings are often involved, but I don’t believe that love is just a fuzzy, warm rosy-eyed feeling. It is, as they say, a “doing word”. Isn’t the majority of worthwhile love expressed through action?