happy freedom-awareness day!
ah, yes. an excuse to ramble on about love...
did i ever soliloquize about the three types of love? remind me to do that sometime...
okay. but seriously. i would like to quote a quote from my brother, which (roughly) is as follows:
"any healthy human being can fall in love with [pretty much] any other healthy human being of the opposite sex." ( i think he added something like, "with a couple of things in common... ESPECIALLY if they're both Christian")
nevermind the nit-picking; the point is this: love, per the common definition, is not some heavenly, miraculous thing.
really though.
romantic love, according to one survey i read on Schopenhauer, is nothing more than the instinctive desire of the species to propagate itself, hopefully for the better. thus, according to this thought, one is attracted to the person one believes "evens out" one's personal shortcomings for the hope of healthy offspring. (so, contrary to popular opinion, "it's the evolution, Cupid.")
not saying i subcribe to all that, but my goodness, it sure does plant one's feet firmly on the ground, does it not?
be careful of:
~eye contact
~your humor
~your best stories
~respect
~anticipation of presence
... as they have been known to lead to abuses of holiness (once defined as "to will one thing," namely God's presence in your life). more than all that, cuidate of that desperately wicked thing living inside you, commonly known as the heart- fermenting ground for those pesky little almost-but-not-quite-uncontrollable thoughts.
not that romance is all evil. being in love (according to all reports i've heard) can be nice... make the sun shine brighter, your wit wittier, your day more exciting, so on and so forth. but i'm not sure it's worth the lost concentration, wasted thoughts, and utterly useless expenditure of time it is known to accompany. (not to mention sin against our brothers/sisters who need more than anything to be single-mindedly zealous for the God of our salvation. love their health over your own titillated emotions and unruly hormones.)
so. above all things, love God truly. love Him not lightly, but with all the attention, concentration and kindness of which you are capable. let Him be your delight. trust Him to teach you to love (per HIS definition) the person HE choses in the time HE choses. crushes will not prepare you for service in the kingdom. loving the Redeemer will.
:::
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me...
:::
any words of wisdom/ advice from veterans would be greatly welcomed.
did i ever soliloquize about the three types of love? remind me to do that sometime...
okay. but seriously. i would like to quote a quote from my brother, which (roughly) is as follows:
"any healthy human being can fall in love with [pretty much] any other healthy human being of the opposite sex." ( i think he added something like, "with a couple of things in common... ESPECIALLY if they're both Christian")
nevermind the nit-picking; the point is this: love, per the common definition, is not some heavenly, miraculous thing.
really though.
romantic love, according to one survey i read on Schopenhauer, is nothing more than the instinctive desire of the species to propagate itself, hopefully for the better. thus, according to this thought, one is attracted to the person one believes "evens out" one's personal shortcomings for the hope of healthy offspring. (so, contrary to popular opinion, "it's the evolution, Cupid.")
not saying i subcribe to all that, but my goodness, it sure does plant one's feet firmly on the ground, does it not?
be careful of:
~eye contact
~your humor
~your best stories
~respect
~anticipation of presence
... as they have been known to lead to abuses of holiness (once defined as "to will one thing," namely God's presence in your life). more than all that, cuidate of that desperately wicked thing living inside you, commonly known as the heart- fermenting ground for those pesky little almost-but-not-quite-uncontrollable thoughts.
not that romance is all evil. being in love (according to all reports i've heard) can be nice... make the sun shine brighter, your wit wittier, your day more exciting, so on and so forth. but i'm not sure it's worth the lost concentration, wasted thoughts, and utterly useless expenditure of time it is known to accompany. (not to mention sin against our brothers/sisters who need more than anything to be single-mindedly zealous for the God of our salvation. love their health over your own titillated emotions and unruly hormones.)
so. above all things, love God truly. love Him not lightly, but with all the attention, concentration and kindness of which you are capable. let Him be your delight. trust Him to teach you to love (per HIS definition) the person HE choses in the time HE choses. crushes will not prepare you for service in the kingdom. loving the Redeemer will.
:::
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me...
:::
any words of wisdom/ advice from veterans would be greatly welcomed.
posted by berekkah at 2/14/2006 07:10:00 p.m.
6 Comments:
I completely agree with you. We had a conversation about this on Cada's blog not long ago. It was the one with the poem about giving gold and silver but not your heart away.
To answer your question,
NoI probably won't be going to ATM. Even if it wasn't so expensive they don't offer the kind of courses that I'm interested in.
My Dad went there, and I have lots of relatives that went there as well as some friends who are attending.
Yeah I like the campus though.
Well it was nice talking and getting acquainted with you.
I hope your day is simply marvelous!
Briana
be careful of the either/or's:
eros (romantic love) is not either divine or mundane. it is both.
who you marry is not either your choice or God's choice. it is a cooperative effort.
God does not dictate who you will marry. you choose within the boundaries supplied by the Christian faith.
run as fast as you can from anyone who promotes the idea of "that one perfect person." that person does not exist.
"marriage is honorable in all." be careful about making romantic love into an enemy that hinders you from serving God. celibacy is wonderful but not better than marriage.
balance?!? but... but.. but...!
okay...
~i'm still thinking on the theory of "the one." if there are degrees of "better," can't there be "the best?"
~i would only use "perfect" in a relative sense... "the best" per the given circumstances of one's life.
~"marriage IS honorable" and all that. no arguments besides those Paul has already laid out. as to romance, i guess context would have to determine its legitimacy...
point being, "eros" is dangerous (or at least a potent weapon/tool) and not for the immature in heart, who seem to be the ones most often stricken by its forces.
thanks for the comments.
there's eye-contact, and then there's EYE-CONTACT (which is prolonged... etc.)
oh dear, now i'm passing on my psycosis to others.
best stories... meaning sharing the depths of one's heart- those experiences which most provide access to one's soul.
those aren't sins of any sort... or bad or anything. but they can build bonds which really need to be covered in righteousness for the health of oneself and the other.
that's what i meant.
You asked for advice from veterans so as one of several decades here goes. You CAN trust God to choose your mate. We fell in love but did not get married until we had fully surrendered the relationship to God - put it on the altar to raise up or slay and we were very serious about it. Both had come from broken homes and did not want it to be repeated in our lives even if we did love and desire one another. By His grace we chose to "lean not on our own understanding - in all your ways acknowledge Him" and the Lord fulfilled His Word "I will direct your path". I don't think any other person would have been right for what we have encountered in our lives. The assurance we had from God that our marriage was His will kept us together through many a rough storm. God's approval is what solidifies commitment as He is trustworthy. When it comes to choosing your husband don't let your God, and His ability to choose for you, BE TOO SMALL. When the rocky times come - and they will - you can know that you let His infinitely wise heart choose and not your own limited finite intellect or emotions. In good times and bad there is no better place to dwell than in the center of God's will.
"there is no better place to dwell than in the center of God's will."
amen. may i find it... and stay in it!
i appreciate your sharing. many blessings of Christ to you.
Publicar un comentario
<< Home