|
Possibly, we are in a crisis regarding marriage in our society. However, I do not see this as all bad. We as humans are struggling, still, to grow up. We are struggling to remain committed over time within cultural factors that do not support, in fact, militate against, long-term romantic relationships. However, the fact that we are still trying and believing says at lot about the human spirit, which is a manifestation of the Spirit of Christ. Also, it says a lot about the faith we have in two persons being able to come to know Love more deeply through learning to love each other more deeply, too.
However, there are cultural distortions of romantic Love. Much that goes under the name “falling in love” and “romance” is a regression of True Love to hormonal self-satisfaction or Freudian-like dreams of being cuddled and cared for by someone else. Romantic Love, as I speak of it, is a manifestation of a spiritually sustained oneness with another person, one that is rooted in each other’s particularized divinity.
The union we experience in contemplation is reflected in the union between the two in love, and the physical act of coitus is the external manifestation of that union. Indeed, sex is always a short-lived experience, even if repeated with the same or different persons. However, sexuality within the romantic Love of which I speak is part of a stable commitment that entails many additional factors, as well as the personal emergence of each person into a greater, more compassionate wholeness, individually and together. This was one of the matters that struck me so much about “The Notebook”: it presented this spiritual view of true Romance.
|
|
You might read this writing as for those divorced or never married. No. A number of my readers are happily married or are in romantic partnership. You can keep alive the early fantasies of romantic Love. You can hold your love or beloved now the way you did that first time. You can kiss her or him, with that delight of the first kiss. You can still walk in the wood hand-in-hand or enjoy a candlelight dinner at home. You can still dance under the moonlight. You can still go to a movie together and laugh and enjoy popcorn, or similar experiences. You can, everyday, say, “I Love You.” You can surprise her or him with little things that keep saying, in ways words can never express, how much the other means to you.
And, some of you are widows or widowers. Yet, you can still keep alive and communicate your Love for your deceased loved one, for spirit is not limited to the conditions that confine through the human body. Speak to him or her. Tell that one of your continued Love. And, you may choose not to hesitate to invite a response, too.
For you who are single, why not be praying now for the one you hope to meet? Be praying for him or her, and pray that you will be ready to receive and give the Love that will be asked of you. Life will offer you Love with someone again, when you are ready. A good way to get ready is to enjoy singleness as a time to learn how to love all life and yourself more deeply.
Yes, with time romantic dreams change, but the dream itself can remain alive. The dream dies, I think, usually, through neglect. Persons get priorities mixed up. We forget what Noah says:
Continued... |
