Toby's Theory Of Universal Love

Toby's Theory Of Universal Love

Hey there. I just wanted to share something with you all that I believe and welcome your thoughts on.

I believe that all human beings are capable of giving and receiving love. Still with me so far? Good. Because I am going to explain why I think it could have been possible for Mother Theresa to fall in love with Adolf Hitler.

Whether you are religious, spiritual, agnostic, atheist, whatever - I think that you would find it hard to argue that love does not exist.
I've heard the clinical scientific "temporary hormonal/chemical imbalance" business and frankly, I'm not impressed.
Why?
Because I've felt love. Love as a son. Love as a brother. Love as a husband. Love as an uncle. Love as a friend.
Some of these have been in existence my whole life and will continue for as long as I live - even if those I love pass away - my love for them will remain.

So what can we take from this?
Love is a 'thing'. It is not a physical thing or a psychological thing yet it is definitely a 'thing' nonetheless.
It exists.
I believe in it. If you have felt it - I bet you believe in it too.

So human beings have the capability of love in them from the very start. When babies are born, they have the capacity to love anyone and everyone. Over time as they grow they will develop preferences. What I call filters. Experience will tell them that it is better to love someone who is nice to you, someone with qualities that are perceived to be 'good' and 'strong' qualities.

More filters will kick in. And in terms of a sexual partner, we are taught (by society, media and often unwittingly, by parents and those around us) that great importance is put upon physical appearance and physical qualities.
This is only part of us as a species, choosing a partner who is healthy and strong and will have a good chance of having strong children and protecting us and surviving with us.

We are constantly exposed to experiences that will shape what we look for. People who are venerated by society. The media with it's relentless pursuit of the current fashionable body-shape. The racist granddad who hates anything German due to his own experiences. The xenophobic parents who won't let their kid play with the Nigerian kid down the road, even though he wants to.

What I'm saying here is that kids, in fact - all of us, are born with a clean slate and it is only the experiences that we are exposed to that dictate who we love.

Are you still with me? I hope so, because we're getting to the hard bit!

So what this tells me is that love itself, as an undefinable 'thing' is not right or wrong, it just is. It's a part of what human beings are. It is as much a part of us as legs, arms, humour and fear.

SO....

Toby's Theory Of Universal Love dictates that "Any two human beings, regardless of age, race or gender - have within them the capacity to love each other completely."

Think of someone you really dislike of the telly. Is it Piers Morgan? (Just a guess) Or a vapid Big Brother contestant who has gotten rich and famous for being stupid and insensitive? What I am saying is that in other circumstances - you could fall in love with that person.
Yes - you!

It has to be the case otherwise we would never fall in love with anybody.

Do people go through their lives never experiencing love because their soul-mate was born on another continent in a different time? No. Well sometimes maybe - but that's not the norm.

The norm is that people fall in love everyday with those around them. People they work with, people they bump into at the supermarket, people they dance with at nightclubs, people they commute on the train with everyday. The girl next door...

We fall in love with those around us because those are the people we meet and people have the capacity to love people - it really is that simple.

So Adolf Hitler and Mother Theresa? Well, if they had lived lives where they came into contact with each other and their experiences did not rule each other out as potential partners - why not?
Obviously it would mean that Adolf had grown up differently and not become the symbol that so many people despise. But it would also mean that Theresa had grown up differently and not made the commitment to God and her work that made her the symbol that so many people revere.

So what I want to express to the world in general and you specifically, my reader, is that every one of us is born with the capacity to love every one of us. And if this is the case, we should celebrate love wherever we find it and whatever form it takes.

Love is the perfect expression of being human and I hope you all have love in your lives and allow others to have love in their lives, wherever they find it because we are all, deep down, the same.

Thanks for listening.