Power of Love and Love of Power

"We look forward to the time when the power of love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace."

- British Prime Minister William Ewert Gladstone.

The word 'Love' originated from old English word 'lufu', connected with Sanskrit lubh, means 'to desire' and Latin lubere, means, 'to please'. According to the bible, 'God is love', i.e one of the principal characteristics of God is love. Human beings are the creation of the Almighty Himself, and thus, God has also endowed us with the capacity to love. In the human world, love can be classified into two types- Conditional:- this is the kind of love that is exhibited by living beings. It is the living being's response to good feelings, good behavior and physical attraction. The other kind is the Unconditional one, usually related to the kind of love exhibited by God to its creation.

Love is critical for our mind and body as oxygen. It's not negotiable. A person devoid of any love in his life is very much vulnerable both physically and mentally. Love is probably the best antidepressant because one of the most common sources of depression is the feeling unloved. The people who are depressed con not love others and are unlikely to be loved by others. They also are very self-focused, making them less attractive to others and depriving them of opportunities to learn the skills of love.

Power is the act of making others feel the controlling barriers they are in. It is the process of displaying the strength of a person to others at the cost of freedom and independence of action and thought of other peoples. Power is force. It is the force to get the things going in one's own way. Power can be very necessary at times when used judiciously, but seldom is such the case. Most often, power is used to meet the own personal interests. Such display of power is in case of a person who has low self-esteem, low regards to freedom and more importantly, the person is most obviously, deprived of love. That is, the person who suffers from depression is more likely to resort to the weapon of power for self defense. He is likely to develop the love of power in course of his lifetime in order to fulfill his own demands. And, this, quite undoubtedly, will lead to social sufferings of the person and also his subordinates. Here, we can cite the example of Hitler. Hitler love or greed of power led him to start the World war2. Hitler launched World War 2 by marching into Poland in 1939 for exertion of the German territory. Most of Western Europe then fell into the Fuhrer (Hitler), who had personal command of the troops. Germany invaded the soviet Union in 1941, but Hitler, Crazed with power, lost his military judgment.



On the other hand, the power of love con be very motivating and peaceful in its own noble ways. If we want to influence or change the behavior of another adult, or want to give him something we think he should have. This person has done us no harm and is in full command of his faculties. Love requires that we reason with him, entice him with an attractive offer, or otherwise engage him on a totally voluntary basis. He is free to accept or reject our overtures. If we don’t get our way, we don’t hire somebody to use force against him. "Live and let live," as Americans used to say with more frequency than they do today.

If you think these trends can go on indefinitely, or if you think power is the answer to our problems, or if you think loving others means diminishing their liberties, you’re part of the problem. If you want to be part of the solution, then consider adopting the following resolutions for this year and beyond:

I resolve to keep my hands in my own pockets, to leave others alone unless they threaten me harm, to take responsibility for my own actions and decisions, and to impose no burdens on others that stem from my own poor judgments.

I resolve to strengthen my own character so I can be the model of integrity that friends, family and acquaintances will want to respect and emulate.

If I have a "good idea," I resolve to elicit support for it through peaceful persuasion, not force. I will not ask politicians to foist it on others just because I might think it’s good for them. I will work to free my fellow citizens by trusting them with more control over their own lives.

I resolve to offer help to others who genuinely need it by involving myself directly or by supporting those who are providing assistance through charitable institutions. I will not complain about a problem and then insist that government fix it at twice the cost and at half the effectiveness.

I resolve to learn more about the principles of love and liberty so that I can convincingly defend them against the encroachments of power. I resolve to make certain that how I behave and how I vote will be consistent with what I say. And I resolve to do whatever I can to replace the love of power with the power of love.

A tall order, to be sure. Let’s get started. ~Thanks