Current Events

I think this question is a question currently going on in the world right now, but unfortunately it's not being tested and tried nearly as much as it should be. Instead of loving unconditionally, whether it be through religion or between countries, it's not being practiced. The war in Iraq is a prime example of this non-practice of love. If love were being practiced, I truly believe that there would be less suffering and much less fighting. I wish that the world would embrace this question and test it out to see the effects it could have not only on our nation, but the world as a whole. We could be so much more peaceful and I believe, truly be saved if we would only love our fellow man.

Pop Culture

Well as for movies go, almost any chick-flick could vouch for a yes answer to my big question so I'll use one of my most recent examples. Two weeks or so ago I went to see P.S. I love you which is a movie with a couple where the husband dies of a brain tumor. Before he dies he plans out a very elaborate set of letters to his wife to be delivered over the next year, instructing her to do things that she's never had the chance to do before. She follows all his letters and in the process slowly but surely recovers from her husband's death. Sure, she still has her days that are incredibly hard, as would anyone, but with her husband's love even after death she is saved from severe depression and possibly even suicide which she considered in the days before his letters started arriving. Books are sort of the same way I guess: anything by Nicholas Sparks would qualify to answer my question so I'll explain the Notebook. If you've seen the movie you know the story for the most part, but the book is better. Allie falls in love with Noah as a young girl, but they are forced apart. Half-way through her life they find each other again, but she's engaged at the time. She finds Noah and falls in love with him all over again. Not only did he save her from her marriage which never could have possibly been as beautiful as theirs was, but he saved her from a lifetime of misery without him and she did the same for him. As for music I'm still trying to find the perfect lyrics to incorporate, but I haven't quite found the right ones yet.

Crime and Punishment

This book deepened my understanding of the question even further. We talked about Sonia and how she was the one who ultimately caused Raskolikov to confess to the murder and it was also Sonia who lived near him while he was in prison. She saved him from many things, not only from his guilty conscience, but also from the horrors of prison by being there for him and being someone he could rely on even after he had done such a horrendous thing. We also talked about Sonia being sort of a Christ-like figure in the novel which opens up a whole new definition for the word love for my big question. It made me contemplate how God's love can save a person or how unconditional love can save. It brought up the point of how although one can do something horrible, they can also repent for it and be resurrected or saved by devotion to God. It also brought up more questions, for example, does it have to be unconditional love to truly be saving or can it just be a normal sort of love? Or another question: Does it have to be to God that one is devoted in order to be saved, or can simple devotion to another human suffice? The verdict is still out on these questions, but as for my big question this book was a big help in understanding it.