Sources of Love and Hate

By Carlton Foster – April 14, 2023

                Suppose you analyze the dynamics of our interpersonal relationship. In that case, how we interact with others, and even how we relate to the things within our reach, you may not realize that these interactions can be classified as ‘the sources of love and hate.’ The people or things are mainly there for our choosing or dislike. For example, some of us love pastries, and when our favorite pastries come into our view, we get excited and eager to eat them; physiological processes occur in our bodies when the picture of the pastries comes into focus. A pleasing and delightful feeling goes through your mind and body in those moments. A similar thing happens when we eat our favorite meal – the one we have loved all these years. These objects are the sources of love; they are inanimate objects sitting there waiting for someone – a taker, to take them and eat it. They provide satisfaction to the ‘eater.’ A similar phenomenon occurs with animate objects. A dog wags its tail when it sees its owner as a physiological response of happiness on seeing the owner. So too, is the response of a human whenever their favorite person comes into focus: a spouse seeing a wife or husband generates a loving feeling in their body. These individuals are sources of love. They excited loving – emotional feelings in others, especially their lover. If the experience continues to be lovely, they will continue to be attracted to the source of love and will want that pleasant experience repeatedly. Just imagine seeing Jesus on the day of Judgement; what physiological feelings would be active in your mind and body then? Would you be happy to see him or sad and nervous? The opposite is also true with resentful – hateful sources.

We may have experienced hate or dislike; if we have, we know what happens to our feelings when the object of disgust comes into our focus. Our bodies undergo destructive, unhealthy physiological processes: we may get tense, nervous, or stressed. Those feelings are unpleasant, and we want them to disappear quickly; we often escape the area where the objects of dislike are present. For example, if a food that has given you a bad allergically response is put before you, you would be afraid to touch it, much less eat it; the interactions decrease. Again, if a delicious meal that I had loved is now rotten and smells bad, you want to eliminate it from your presence. You can guess the interaction and outcome when an obnoxious person enters your circle. No doubt it will be similar to what happened in the past, so you try to avoid encountering that person by separating yourself from them. These objects (animate or inanimate) are sources of hate. Their presence sends terrible feelings to our minds and bodies; our natural tendency is to escape the area and avoid the interactions. So while loving sources entice us and their attractive forces pull us towards them, hateful sources repel us and push us away from their environment.

The transition from a lovely interaction to a disgusting resource is also real. It is easy to make that transition. It is like getting a person to sin; however,  to move a hateful resource to be a source of love is harder; it is like loving your enemies (as Jesus commanded us). A loving resource can give off disappointing reactions. When the unacceptable frequency increases, the resentful responses of the consumer – the lover, also increase, and the gap between their interactions widens. The physiological effect of the lover slowly changes to an unhealthy condition; however, the object of love – the source, may not be aware of the physiological changes in the once adorable person. The rejected source of love is now classified as a hostile, obnoxious, dejected source, pushing the recipient outside their circles.

When you often do something or interact with someone, it is because you are experiencing a lovely interaction from an attractive source. For example, if you find yourself eating a particular food, it is because you appreciate the impact these sources have on your physiological processes. They make you feel good. You love them. Likewise, if you find yourself ignoring or avoiding a person or interacting with an object, it is because those interactions are destructive to your feelings. To experience love and good health, continue to interact and cherish the sources of love that give you a set of satisfactions and accomplishments that always make you happy.  Enjoy your life, now!