SIR: Love, which is, sometimes, an indescribable emotion, is at the root of our celebration of St. Valentine’s day. Like hate, which is a word depicting emotion, love is a four-letter word. It is a shop-soiled word, that is, it is an overused word. Religious mountebanks, lovers, confidence tricksters, clergymen, strumpets, fops, dandies, gold-diggers, and philanderers use it, daily, in their speeches to sway other people to their sides in order for them to achieve their ends.
Therefore, its quotidian utility cannot be disputed or controverted.But what is love? According to The Longman’s Dictionary of Contemporary English, “Love is a strong feeling of caring about someone, especially a close member of your family or friend; a strong feeling of liking and caring about someone, especially combined with sexual attraction.” There are many other definitions of love.
But to me, love has to do with our performance of acts of benefaction for needy and helpless people without anticipating or expecting that they will requite us for our good deeds. It is the unconditional help, which we give to people, who are neck deep in trouble. When the feelings of empathy well up in our hearts and propel us to help the poor and vulnerable people, then, we have carried out acts of love.
St. Valentine is reputed as a man, who performed legendary acts of love during his sojourn on earth. His great acts of love necessitated the setting aside of a day called St. Valentine’s day.
In the Bible, which is the holy book of the Christians, we are given the admonition to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. 1 Peter 4:8 says this: “Above all things have fervent and unfailing love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins”. And Jesus Christ, who is our Messiah, saviour, and redeemer, chose to pay the supreme price – death– by dying on the cross to save us from eternal damnation. By being a ransom for our sins, Jesus Christ demonstrated his love for us.
But today, a great number of practitioners of Christianity do not follow the precepts, teachings, and commands of God, which were conveyed to us by Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Those intensely religious people who are without the virtue of love do make a show of faked religious piety while they are inwardly vile. The doings of Nigerians who belong to diverse religious faiths negate the teachings of their religions. So our world has become an abode of evil.
Love is a very scarce commodity among us now. Millions of Nigerians are without fellow feelings or love. We are, simply put, living in a milieu of lovelessness. The commemoration of St. Valentine’s day commends us to change our old and evil ways. It, also, commends us to imbibe the virtue of love, which is the cornerstone of all religious teachings.
• Chiedu Uche Okoye, a poet, wrote from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State
