In one of those inexplicable moments of strange memory or recall that we older folks start to get used to, a bit of a song came into my mind, with the phrase "true love." And that got me to thinking about the term.
It would seem that the term true love implies that there are different degrees of love, only one of which is "true" love. And all other kinds of love are lesser forms of love.
What is true love, and how do we know it? And what of all those degrees or varieties of love which are somehow not "true"?
How do we define or recognize "true love" and distinguish it from those other, presumably lesser (or counterfeit?) forms of love? It might be facile to say that any person who cheats on his/her spouse is not "truly" in love with the spouse.
But maybe the term (and concept) "true love" holds before us a true but unattainable, illusory ideal. I have read that many people enter into marriage with an unrealistic and highly romantic ideal, which no actual marriage is going to be able to live up to. This is not healthy, and might be a reason for our high rate of divorce.
Maybe we all need to see if we can be content with some variety of love which is not that highest, and maybe illusory, "true love."
Copyright © 2009 by Richard Stein
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