The love arena

I read this awhile ago, and it made me think of relationships, both in the friend arena and the "more" arena.

Christian Love: Giving up the Fantasy

"...If we are to embrace a brand of Christianity that truly alters our lives and the world in which we inhabit, it will require more from us than throwing out our secular music and wearing kitschy T-shirts bearing memorable Jesus-ized slogans.

First, it’s important to rediscover the unsexy unselfishness inherent in biblical ideas of love. We have to remind the world (and ourselves) that love involves sacrifice. Somewhere along the way, the “otherness” that love demands gets lost. In a generation where self-gratification reaches new levels through erotic mass media and a dangerously casual dating culture, the idea of abstaining from indulgence sounds almost puritanical. Yet such an attitude is completely contrary to a 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love that is defined, not by feelings or emotions or sensuality, but by matters of will, of choice and of sacrifice.

It doesn’t sound very erotic, but it may be the only prescription for healthy, transcendent relationships...

Finally, love must be removed—with a scalpel, if necessary—from the romantic entanglements lauded by pop culture’s generic TV-archetypes. Ironically, this aspect of false love may be the most difficult to rid ourselves of. Because it is seemingly benign (almost adorably innocent), it escapes the critical lens of truth. Who could deny the life-changing love that grew and blossomed between Justin and Britney? Brad and Angelina? Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper? Who would want to?

The truth nobody likes to admit (but everyone knows deep down) is that love can be quite unimpressive, even boring; my parents have watched British comedies every Saturday night for 15 years! Before that, they square-danced. God save us from such fates …

Or perhaps: God redeem us through such simplicity...

Love is a lot of work—gut-wrenching at times—which means that Christianity is inevitably hard, no matter what the televangelists say..."

(Peter Walker is a Spiritual Formation student at George Fox Seminary, and works with youth and drama ministries at his local church. He is desperate for change.)

www.relevantmagazine.com

Red Digital Numbers

12:03 am. That's the time. My cheap digital alarm clock says so. With every passing second the little red digital numbers remind me that the evening drags on. Three nights in a row this has happened. I can't sleep. Something is not right. What it is I can't figure out. Stress. Stubborness. Restlesness. Frustration. Who knows really. Maybe all of the above. The fact remains, however, that this can not go on. My will must be stronger than my body. My will screams a resounding 'no'! My body screams 'please'! It's just like what I imagine a brides body would scream after the first caress of her groom. Longing. She would long to be one. I just long to sleep. Somehow that seems enough for the moment.