On the eve of Valentine's Day, there is perhaps no better, clearer definition of love to be found than in St. Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth found in the New Testament.

In it, he makes it clear the root of love is humility, which does not jibe exactly with western culture, where people are either conquerors or the vanquished.

If you grew up in America, you already know how badly and how often Hollywood has misled us about what love is and isn't. From cinema's first flickers, we've been fed a false narrative of who's deserving of love.

Too old? Too heavy? Too brunette? Too bad.

By Paul's account, "Love is patient, love is kind, and long-suffering." That doesn't wear well in a society where people are urged to "swipe left" at the first sign of struggle.

He further writes that love does not envy others, is not egotistical, does not behave itself unseemly, does not bully and elbow itself to the front of the line or put itself first.

70 rooms

True love, he adds, is not easily provoked and thinks no evil; it doesn't rejoice in wrongdoing, but rather in truth, preferring to believe in that which is good.

Only a person who never has set eyes on Twitter could write such a thing.

Given all this, it only makes sense the heart is the universal symbol for love, because the heart also is a muscle, which reminds us love requires work and action.

During the recent deadly storm in Chicago, where the wind-chilled temperature plunged to 50-below zero, Candice Payne paid for 30 hotel rooms to house 70 homeless people temporarily.

Had she shot 70 homeless people, you likely would have heard more about it.

But true love doesn't require a pat on the head or a cookie. Payne said she did it intending to generate more donations for the homeless.

It challenges us to think of love as not simply a feeling but as a conscious choice.

Imperfect, immature

In Canton, Stephanie Sweany has introduced the Canton Kindness Coalition, based on her belief that kindness carries authentic value. Just as being loved is one of our primordial needs, the desire to be treated with kindness is universal. It's why even the smallest acts of largess often go viral; we crave it.

We already know some people will ignore, even reject, the idea that kindness really can change the world, which makes no sense given how often an act of evil has changed it. Here's hoping we are not so far gone that a call to treat one another better is something to be dismissed.

In some parts of the world, despotic governments are trying to tamp out a growing observance of Valentine's Day, motivated by a futile attempt to control human nature. But love, even at its most imperfect, wobbly and immature, is resilient.

It cannot be culled by religion, law or tradition. It has outlasted kings, armies and the wisdom of this world. 

It is the side on which to err. Every time.

Love is the life's breath of the soul. Its power can be diminished only by our unwillingness to share it.

At the close of his letter, Paul notes that love endures and withstands all things; that faith, hope and love are humankind's three greatest virtues.

But love, he writes, is the greatest of all.


On Twitter: @cgoshayREP