In an earlier form of the legend, it was Artemis, not Arethusa, who was the object of the river god's affections and who escaped by smearing her face with mire, so that he failed to recognize her.
God created physical affection to be good.
Bhakti is regarded as affection for God and associated with a sense of his majesty.
The means to liberation is bhakti, which is defined as firm affection for God and also loving service (seva).
In religious life Bhaskara was an advocate of bhakti, but bhakti is not a mere feeling of love or affection for God but rather is dhyana, or meditation, directed toward the transcendent brahman which is not exhausted in its manifestations.
And, moreover, in his praises, he said with great affection: "May God bless you".
Outward displays of affection toward God are something that most black people have experienced and even done, I'm assuming.
It seems as a nation we are still very much divided on our religious views, outward displays of faith and affection toward God, and virtually unable to live and let live.
They are nothing but "affections of God's attributes, or modes by which God's attributes are expressed in a certain and determinate way" (Ip25c).
I had received, if not God's love, then the affection of a congregation of total strangers.
