Down in Mississippi, where I grew up, we had a quaint way of describing a beginning courtship:  “John is paying attention to Mary.”  Pretty descriptive. 

A friend of mine shared with me that for about three years he had intentionally sought the meaning of love.  He talked about it with preachers and philosophers, with the educated and the uneducated.  The most helpful definition he received came from a workman in a furniture factory.  “Love is awareness,” the man said.  That became a key for exciting living for my friend and has turned him into one of the most sensitive, alive people I know.

That’s not everything love is, but it is that -- awareness.  A recent study indicated that some of the loneliest persons are married couples.  They have nice homes, good jobs, money, family, everything, but they are out of touch with each other.  Love means relationship.  Relationship requires awareness.  So the answer to our deepest need for love begins in paying attention.