Basic Principles: All Christians are called to love one another as brothers/sisters in Christ. Love is an act of the will, which is supported by a knowledge or an insight; an act of the intellect. And there is sometimes accompanying these two acts, a mysterious movement of the passions toward another person.
It is this mysterious emotional phenomenon; that is my chief concern in this little note. The phenomenon is called mysterious because it can be aroused almost instantaneously, without warning, though often at a recognizable starting point in time, and sometimes with no rational explanation as to why.
Yes, sometimes the passion is followed by and fueled by reason, likeness etc. The passion itself though, is not neccessarily dependent upon it.
The phenomenon is commonly called, "falling in love", an insightful phrase! For one is so vulnerable, so haphazard, so blind in movement and so insane, one could readily compare one's self to one who is falling blindly in the dark.
Here are some common symptoms of this epidemic, though they may vary according to case, degree and host;
1) Sleep deprivation caused by excessive absorption in the thought of the beloved.
2) A nearly constant state of distraction caused by excessive absorption in the thought of the beloved.
3) A distate for eating when it is not accompanied by the prescence of the beloved.
4) A distaste for any given activity that is not accompanied by the presence of the beloved.
5) An aversion to any flirtation with any other party besides the beloved.
6) A trembling of the hands caused by the sound of the beloved's voice.
7)A knocking of the kness caused by looking to deeply into the beloved's eyes or at his/her mouth.
8) A loss for words (even from those typically eloquent)in the presence of the beloved.
9) A tendency to tears at the slightest provocation (in the female).
10) A tendency towards annoyance at the slightest provocation (in the male).
Such are the symptoms. Looking at them in writing they appear rather irrational, but the practice, so I am told, feels the most reasonable hungering the soul can experience.
