We often hear about the importance of love and of charity, and it might be worth talking about what each of those words means.

When I was looking for quotes to use in this session, “love” was associated with romantic love, and “charity” with giving alms. What might be needed is a word that indicates feeling what we normally describe as love, but not with a romantic limitation. In Italian, “amore” means romantic love. You wouldn’t say “Amo,” I love, your parent or child. You would say “Ti voglio bene” — I wish you well, or I wish good for you. That’s how you say that you love someone who is not a romantic subject. Is that a good way to define charity? To define love? I wish well for you? Does one have to do more than wish? To aid in thinking about different kinds of love, here’s a meme that appeared on Facebook:

Writing exercise: After thinking about those questions, you might want to write about how love or charity — both or either — plays a role in your life right now. That might refer to intimate connections such as spouses, children, or parents, but it might also been seen in more general terms. How does giving or receiving love or charity fit into your life now?

Any of these quotations might also serve as a prompt for writing.

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” — Dalai Lama

“Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“Love is the magician that pulls man out of his own hat.” — Ben Hecht

“True charity is the desire to be useful to others with no thought of recompense.” — Emanuel Swedenborg

“Charity brings to life again those who are spiritually dead.” — Thomas Aquinas

“Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” — Booker T. Washington