One of the strongest feelings is love. This explains why a billion Valentine cards were exchanged two weeks ago around the world. Love is defined in the dictionary as ?a deep intense affection? or ?sexual passion?. I believe it is a mixture of both though I am convinced that the sexual part is subordinate to the aspect of affection. Love can survive without sex but a great sexual passion can be lived without love. Desire between two persons is but the raw material of love, which is the delicate art of a profound and affectionate relationship.

This art of loving which implies courting, learning to know each other, caring for each other, being faithful to each other, losing oneself for the sake of the other, being patient and understanding to each other is often reduced to its lowest denominations by modern media. Its influence is determining in framing young minds. I am not trying to protect you from a life of easy sex, I am just trying to highlight the insidious effects of the media on our perception of love and sex.

First, I consider that, in an affectionate relationship, sex should be the icing on the cake and not the other way round. Unfortunately, in films, adolescents are shown sleeping together as if they were fulfilling a vital activity! Avant-garde thinkers call it living one?s sexuality. Yet sexuality has always been knitted with love and marriage in all cultures. Nature itself has always sanctioned casual encounters with sexually transmitted diseases. Therefore it is unnatural to translate into acts our slightest desire. Having a boyfriend, girlfriend or same sex friend is generally accepted! Yet there is a time for love and one cannot force a relationship and make believe just to fit in the group. It?s a pity to see how courting is often absent from video clips and movies.

We are losing our humanity! While in the animal kingdom, males court females by singing and parades, men nowadays do not bother to conquer ladies anymore. In films and clips, they are often shown displaying external signs of wealth. They then pick, choose, use and dispose as commodities. Next time you watch video clips, check on the ratio of men to women and you will see! All this has nothing to do with the real game of love. A society which does not nurture a feeling of deep respect towards its ladies, is a society doomed to fail.

Great loves are often very quiet, expressed with strong humility, a power that makes the pride of humanity. If one day you go to uncle Max?s place, cast a glance on his table, you will see the picture of his wife who passed away decades ago. Max does not have to shout from the mountains that he loves his wife, the omnipresence of her memory serves as a poignant testimony on his table. Max is a happy man who never complains. He lives a great love story, which stands as a gift to his children and grandchildren.

Love is a noble and great gift to humanity. It is a fountain of blissful certainty when it stands on the strong foundation of deep, sincere and true affection that comes with the right choice at the right time. Don?t waste your time on unworthy petty relationships just to be like others. It pays to be patient.

Alain Jeannot</B>