January 23rd, 2009

And I Love Her

Song Info (from Beatlesongs):”And I Love Her” is on the A Hard Day’s Night album and was 65% written by McCartney and 35% by Lennon. By 1972 there were 372 cover versions of it. In 1984, Paul said, “…it was a nice tune, that one. I still like it.”

Growing up in church, I heard often about the word “love,” particularly as it was used in the Bible. There were three main Greek words translated “love” in the New Testament: eros, philos, and agape. The first refers to a romantic or sexual love (the word “erotic” is derived from this), the second to a friendly or brotherly love (“Philadelphia” comes from this), and the last, agape, refers to an unconditional love, a giving love, a sacrificial love.

This last one is the most difficult one. We like to do things that are easy for us and serve our needs. Agape, though, requires us to give and serve and meet the needs of someone else, regardless of how difficult that can be at times. It can be hard enough when everything’s normal, but when the other party has hurt you or ignored you or damaged your trust, well, it gets very, very difficult. It’s only natural to want to protect oneself from hurt, whether that be physical or mental.

The reason this topic is on my mind lately is… well… I’ve been in a relationship with someone difficult for quite some time now. She’s mean to me and my friends, she has total disregard for my wishes, she expects to be waited on at all times, her breath is terrible… and sometimes she hisses at and bites people.

Some of you have met Nutmeg, so you know what I’m talking about. Nobody likes her. …except me. I don’t know why, but I do love the little monster. Part of it’s probably because I’m the only person she likes, I’m sure – when I’m the only one here, whatever room I’m in, she’s there. Another part is that I know I’m all she has. If I didn’t love her and keep her, no one else would take her.

She does purr and cuddle, so I guess it’s not completely selfless of me, but I think for the most part that I love her more than she “deserves.” And isn’t that kind of the point, though? Most of us have done rotten things and don’t really deserve love, so it’s all the more special when someone does choose to love us.

4 Comments on “And I Love Her”

  1. Eric says:

    I will forever have an image in my brain of Paul singing "And I love her" to a cat. Other than that I liked the post.

  2. Jeremiah says:

    Dude!

    I love Nutmeg! I think she is a very cool cat, one of a kind actually! Now if I can only get her to let me pet her! I will keep on trying though!

  3. Theo B. Scure says:

    Put the beast down! Cats are a scourge.

  4. G-Knee says:

    Hmm…I have been feeling a little like Nutmeg lately…unlovely, yet loved. Good post.

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