Why are people so focused on and obsessed with various types of love?

[Holly3278]

One thing that I have noticed is that people in general are very focused on and obsessed with love of various types. I am not just talking about a specific type of love but love in general.

For an indication of what I mean, just take a look at love in the American Heritage Dictionary. There is 10 definitions of love as a noun alone. There is also the ton of Valentines Day products sold each year because of people’s obsession with romantic love. Even children buy Valentines Day products to give to their fellow students at school. Millions, if not billions, of dollars are sold every year because of romantic love. Also, everyone has heard someone say that they “love” a certain thing like music, candy, a certain food, a certain game, a certain television show, etc… I could go on and on about the obsession with and focus on love throughout the world but I have made my point.

So anyway, I am curious about why there is such a focus on and obsession with love in general. I have come up with a theory in my mind and that theory is that these various types of love are a reflection of God because God is Love. What does everyone else think about this?

 

[Lerchinator]

I believe that the great focus on love is because people desire the eternal in the temporal. The greatest reflection of the eternal is true love, but since “true love” doesn’t sell so well outside of Hallmark, categorizations of love are branded and sold.
People in general recognize love as a great good, even if they choose not to attribute it to Him. So when love, like everything else, is secularized by modern society, it is still a very important thing.
My theory. Does it make sense?

**O all you who walk by on the road, pay attention and see:
if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.

Pay attention, all people, and look at my sorrow:
if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.**

 

[SpidersfromMars]

I think it’s just a reflection of the human desire for companionship and acceptance.

 

[dshix]

Lerchinator had a good answer.

We, as humans, desire, as part of our nature, all things good. We desire to give love and receive it in kind.

This is why we, as Catholics, are satisfied in this part of our nature, because God IS love. He is the greatest good that anyone can possibly obtain.

 

[3DOCTORS]

I believe that the great focus on love is because people desire the eternal in the temporal. The greatest reflection of the eternal is true love, but since “true love” doesn’t sell so well outside of Hallmark, categorizations of love are branded and sold.
People in general recognize love as a great good, even if they choose not to attribute it to Him. So when love, like everything else, is secularized by modern society, it is still a very important thing.
My theory. Does it make sense?

I think it makes a ton of sense. It’s like 1 Corinthians 13:12 - we see now through a glass darkly, but when we get to Heaven we will see face to face. We’re searchers and our vision is clouded by sin and weakness. Yet in our hearts God has planted the desire to find love, to find Him, whether directly or within a holy sacrament of Marriage or Holy Orders, or both. Sometimes we get sidetracked by counterfeits. Then confusion enters in.

 

[Robert_Caritas]

I think we are turning around the same answer. Human beings were made to be loved by God, and so when we are cut off from Him, even when we don’t know it, our soul is calling our for Him.

Maybe this is an important cause of idolatry. We have a tendency to try to find absolute love in things that are not God, but that carry a reflection of His love, such as romantic love, marriage, friendship, and the general goodness of life, and we can end up eclipsing God with these things, thinking that that is where love is to be found.

I’ve been thinking recently about the teaching of the Church that central to the purpose of every human life is to know and love God.

 

[Holly3278]

I believe that the great focus on love is because people desire the eternal in the temporal. The greatest reflection of the eternal is true love, but since “true love” doesn’t sell so well outside of Hallmark, categorizations of love are branded and sold.
People in general recognize love as a great good, even if they choose not to attribute it to Him. So when love, like everything else, is secularized by modern society, it is still a very important thing.
My theory. Does it make sense?

**O all you who walk by on the road, pay attention and see:
if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.

Pay attention, all people, and look at my sorrow:
if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.**

Thanks! This is a really good answer!

I think we are turning around the same answer. Human beings were made to be loved by God, and so when we are cut off from Him, even when we don’t know it, our soul is calling our for Him.

Maybe this is an important cause of idolatry. We have a tendency to try to find absolute love in things that are not God, but that carry a reflection of His love, such as romantic love, marriage, friendship, and the general goodness of life, and we can end up eclipsing God with these things, thinking that that is where love is to be found.

I’ve been thinking recently about the teaching of the Church that central to the purpose of every human life is to know and love God.

Thank you Robert! Your answer is also really good!

 

[blaskoman]

Too many folks are obsessed with their pets. Many would probably save their pet from a burning house before attending to a person!