Romance III

Before my media detox, I was caught up in political arguments, news analysis, some sports (more during football season), my overwhelmingly stressful job and divers other things. Even though I worship and sing God's praises, these other things sometimes took center stage; I would loose the sense of God's romance, His love. I see it in others too; in religious, churched people. I have friends, when talking religion, talk scripture, chapter and verse. The Bible as a manual for living; like it's a rule book. I went to breakfast with a friend, and when I finished the blessing for the meal, I was admonished that I should quote scripture at part of the prayer. Say what? It's limiting. If we want to bring others to Christ, we should romance them, like God romances us. There is love and mystery here in our Christ story, and it's shared sacrifice, mystery and love. From Frederick Buechner's "Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy and Fairy Tale":

"It is a world of magic and mystery, of deep darkness and flickering starlight. It is a world where terrible things happen and wonderful things too. It is a world where goodness is pitted against evil, love against hate, order against chaos, in a great struggle where often it is hard to be sure who belongs to which side because appearances are endlessly deceptive. Yet for all its confusion and wildness, it is a world where the battle goes ultimately to the good, who live happily ever after, and where in the long run everybody, good and evil alike, becomes known by his true name.... That is the fairy tale of the Gospel with, of course, one crucial difference from all other fairy tales, which is that the claim made for it is that it is true, that it not only happened once upon a time but has kept on happening ever since and is happening still."

In this year I never want to set God aside in the narrative of my life. I want the Romance to mature. I want my life to remain a matter of the heart. I want my heart to sing in perfect harmony with the song of God's heart. I want this to be an epic Romance. I want to share this Romance, with all my heart, mind and soul.