The Evolution of Love.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 36, Issue 6, 1 September 1945, Page 15

The Evolution of Love.

(By Canon Gerry)

Thou shalt love thy neighbour is a command that is sometimes difficult to obey. Our neighbour is not always lovable. "Thou shalt love thine enemy" is more difficult, some say impossible.*

Was it possible to love Hitler and what he stood for? It was, of. course, impossible to feel anything but indignation and disgust at what the Nazis had done. Is there any sense m which we can love our enemies?

Suppose we start with an easy lesson. When we began to learn mathematics we did not commence with advanced and difficult problems, but with simple elements of arithmetic — one and one are two, two arid two are four. We begin to love by loving ourselves. There is no difficulty m that. Can this be a germ out of which other loves, will 'grow?

There are long stages from fish to man m the story of evolution. It is a long step from loving self to loving our enemies. But there are many stages between. Besides loving ourself can we love the wife, the husband — m spite of faults m them? Can we love our friends, our fellowcountrymen — even though they do things they should not? This evolves into love of the members of the society or lodge to which we may belong, and for the Christian into what St. Peter terms love of the brotherhood. This m its turn may •be a stage to the love of mankind at large, irrespective of the fact whether any particular member of the race deserves our love.

It is possible to love a man and at the same time hate what he does. I love myself, but often hate what I do. Is it possible to love our neighbour m the "Same way? Can we love our enemies m this way? While hating what they do? Christ detested sin, while pitying the sinner.

Having arrived at the stage of loving our fellows, our brothers, it is but one step more to the love of our common Father — God.

Here, is another illustration of the principle— <"The seed ... the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn m the ear."

Four stages, m the evolution of the virtue of love may be represented by four words. ■ These words are each built up out of a Greek word for love — phileo. They are: autophilos, Philadelphia, philanthropy, theophilos. Autophilos — from " auto " (self) and "phileo" (love), stands for the first stage — love of self. Philadelphia—from adelphos (brother) and phileo, is the second stage — love

of the brother. Philanthropy — f rom "philed" and "anthropos" (man), is the third stage — love of man. Theophilos—from "theos" (God) and "phileo," is the culmination of the progress — the love of. God.

Autophilos was the name of a character m a story I once read. Philadelphia is, of course, the name of an American city. Philanthropy needs no comment, and Theophilos was the person addressed by the writer of The Acts of The Apostles m the New Testament m the opening words of that work— "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilos . . ."