LOVE IS AN EQUATION: HEAD + HEART = LOVE

There are many definitions of love. And according to the Greek culture, there are more than five types of love:

1. Agape: Unconditional love which Christianity attributes to God. This love is what distinguishes Christianity from organized Religion. It is love that tells us that while God had all the reasons not to love us, he loved (agape) us with everything he had and he was and after all was finished, he gave himself (sacrifice not suicide) for our redemption. This is what Jesus meant when he said: THE FIRST GREAT COMMANDMENT IS LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR MIND, HEART, MIGHT, ALL-EVERYTHING.

Please note that loving God in this manner means that whether he intervenes to help or not, your love for him is standard. You give him the same praise (attitude) as your child breathes the last like you praised (attitude) him when he was born. The Greek word for all is panta and pants is not just numerical but also circumstantial or situational. Loving (God) means loving him as much (numerical) as you can count and loving him always (whatever the situation). Agape is Inclusive but not exclusive, that is why God loves everyone sinners and saints equally. This is divine and can only be divinely enabled in carnal people like us.

1. Philautia: For those who have studied Greek, it is easy to confuse this love-term with Phileo but Philautia is about the SELF. Note: It is not SELFISH but SELF. Selfish is concentrated focus on personal gain, personal fame, and success. It is self-obsession. It is you at the cost of others. It is looking at others as raw material and using them for your fortification. Philautia, however, can be explained better by using a WATER-TANK ANALOGY. The tank gathers as much water as its capacity just to supply the water to others. This is what Jesus referred to when he said the second greatest commandment was: LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOU LOVE YOUR SELF
2. Ludus: Casual love. The romans exercised this more in the brothels. And it is the one on streets and in schools today. When people tell each other on social media that: I love you, I have feelings for you, you are sweet, etc, they are usually not intending commitment love-relationship but something that might not or might materialise in conjugal practices and that is all. It is Ludus, and this Ludus is dangerous but also good. It is friends with benefits if am to tone it down to our modern understanding. Ludus is equivalent to having 3000 friends on Facebook or Twitter who cannot attend your wedding meetings but you love (Ludus) them.
3. Pragma: This love is one that is based explained by the marrieds. It is about the situation, capacity and rate at which an individual makes compromises, exhibits tolerance and patience over time to ensure their partner succeeds, or grows or out grows, or they as a couple achieve the desired (agreed-upon) end/goal. Most men will appreciate they are loved by their wives based on how pragmatic (pragma) their wives have been experientially.
4. Philia: The best expression of this love that the Greeks termed as Philia or its synonym Storge is in the book of Samuel between David (the enemy of King Saul) and Jonathan (the son of King Saul). Philia is about a deep friendship but a friendship that had a past experience. For Philia to grow, there must have been a struggle or a success that brought about comradeship. To make you understand, there is a saying in our generation that goes: Partner in Crime – what this means to the modern man is close to Philia.
5. Eros: This type of love is one that many cultures across the world exercised at a certain stage of development. The Greeks named it after the god of fertility they worshipped. This we see as far as the ancient near East civilizations which was characterised by: Temple Sex (for those who had failed to concieve) and Agricultural farm conjugals (for bigger harvests or change of farming seasons from hostility to crop friendly). It is from Eros that the English word Erotic comes . It carries the idea of sex, sexual passion, urge and desire. It is physically oriented and not psychologically managed. Eros is thinking with your body and acting with your head. Eros is an erected penis that has no conscience. It when you are controlled and not in control. It is love of the body not even of self. Eros is the operating principle behind fatal cosmetology, fashion and style. People love their body that much that they apply to it what might hurt in the long-run.
6. Phileo: This is what I call Socio-Anthropological love. It is the love of the soul, it is affection restricted or more geared to kindred. Phileo thrives on natural tastes and preferences. Samson Kasumba is a muganda but he is the only person in this world I consider to be my elder brother and I love (Phileo) him so much (those who know us will tell you). But let me tell you why I love (Phileo) him, his wife (Mable) is a Munyarwanda like myself. Now that is KINDRED LOVE.

To be honest sometimes I wish Jethro was a munyarwanda…😜😜😜😜. Anyways, the point is Phileo is a love you feel or have towards people like you. It embodies culture (tribe and region) and beliefs (religion, faith and social class).

It is however a shallow love, naturally exclusive and conditional.

Those are the types of love that I learnt in my philosophy lectures and they are the loves I have witnessed in many geographies I have been to. To me therefore, Love is or ought to be the constant and consistent answer you get when you ADD or MULTIPLY your HEAD with your HEART.

HEAD = Love is the ability to make an objective (reality) analysis of the self first then apply that self to your environment which consists of the natural and the supernatural.

HEART = Because of the the efficacy of the HEAD, love therefore, is a rational feeling not based on Opinions, not Statistics nor Facts but REALITY (what really is).

God bless you I invoke TRUTH, REASON and FAITH

Am Pr. I.T.WHITE (+256-793-822833)
The Gospel Hawker