A Many Splendoured Thing

 

'Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ?' Romans 8:35a

Christians usually describe four types of love:

• Affection (storge,). A fondness between family members or people who have found themselves in a relationship.

• Friendship (phileo). A strong bond between people who share common interest or activity.

• Attraction (eros). Romantic love.

• Charity (agape) - Unconditional love.

Unfortunately when we look at love in this way, love becomes cold and expressionless. We reduce love from a powerful emotion and attribute to an intellectual concept. Instead, when we experience love, it is a wonderful and overflowing feeling. It's exhilarating! 

Therefore, I prefer to look at love as in the song 'Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing' based an a romantic novel by Han Suyin:

Love is a many-splendoured thing,

It's the April rose that only grows in the early spring,

Love is nature's way of giving a reason to be living,

The golden crown that makes a man a king.

Once on a high and windy hill,

In the morning mist two lovers kissed

and the world stood still,

Then your fingers touched my silent heart

and taught it how to sing,

Yes, true love's a many-splendoured thing.

To help us experience and appreciate this kind of love, the Bible teaches us to love sincerely and absolutely, that is, to “Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it” (Romans 12:9 The Message).

The 17th Century French Bishop Francois Fénelon, (Ref 1) wrote, "I live on love. Love does everything within me. It is only out of love that I was created. And it is only inasmuch as I love, that I do what God intended to do by creating me”. Fénelon knew that to be loved and to love is the deepest yearning of the human spirit. He also knew that love must be everything to a person, in order to give and receive love unconditionally. 

Hence, Saint Paul, in 1 Cor 13:4-8, described love unabashedly, 

"Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It does not dishonour others,it is not self-seeking,

It is not self-seeking, its is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails." 

We all want to have somebody love us truly. God has given us the grace and ability to give and receive such a love. He loves us so that by His example, we can also love another. Love is at the centre of every Christian inter-relationship. It does not matter what kind of love, romantic, filial or agape; just love sincerely, absolutely and unconditionally and we will be living out God’s will and intention for us.

Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. As I have loved you, you should also love one another” (John 13:34).


Lionel

Ref 1. R J Edmonson and R M Helms The Complete Fenelon Paraclete Press, 2008. pp 238-240

Post previously November 2010

Love Changes Everything

'Love never fails.' 1 Cor 13:8

On 20 Jan 2011, as any first-time tourists to Northern India would, Pat and I made the customary visit to the Taj Mahal. It is the most beautiful building we have ever seen. The Taj Mahal certainly lives up to its name and reputation as the "crown of buildings”. It has a simplistic, symmetrical, white, pristine and feminine beauty which will fix the eye and drop the jaw of any observer. I stood in awe of it and celebrated the artistic imagination and creative inspiration of the human race.

This pure beauty aptly and eternally celebrates what must have been a stunning beauty of a woman, Mumtaz Mahal, to whose memory this mausoleum was built. Mumtaz Mahal, meaning 'jewel of the palace', was the third wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. So enthralling was her beauty that Shah Jahan fell in love with her at first sight at the age of fourteen. They were married five years later and she became his inseparable companion till her death after giving birth to her fourteenth child. It is said that Shah Jahan was so heartbroken that he ordered the court into mourning for two years.

Some time after her death, Shah Jahan undertook the task of erecting the world's most beautiful monument in the memory of his beloved. Construction took 22 years from 1632 to 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen and in its building, almost bankrupting the coffers of the rich and mighty Mughal Empire. It also cost Shah Jahan his kingdom. When the building was completed, his son confined him to house arrest and usurped his throne in an effort to stop the blatant expenditure and save the economy of the country.

The Taj Mahal stands today as a symbol to love and romance. For Shah Jahan, “Love Changes Everything”

Love, love changes everything:

Hands and faces, earth and sky,

Love, love changes everything:

How you live and how you die.

Love can make the summer fly,

Or a night seem like a lifetime.

Yes, Love, love changes everything:

Now I tremble at your name.

Nothing in the world will ever be the same

(click on title to hear a Michael Ball’s rendition of this song on YouTube).

One thing love changes is fear. Henri Nouwen stated, "Fear makes us run away from each other or cling to each other but does not create true intimacy. Fear makes us move away from each other to a safe distance. But laying our hearts totally open to God leads us to a love of ourselves that enables us to give whole-hearted love to our fellow human beings. In the house of God's love we come to see with new eyes and hear with new ears and thus recognise all people, whatever their race, religion, sex, wealth, intelligence or background, belong to the same house. God's house has no dividing walls or closed doors" (Ref 1).

We are afraid to commit. We are afraid of the 'Taj Mahal' brand of love. Ravi Zacharias wrote  “Love is a commitment that will be tested in the most vulnerable areas of spirituality, a commitment that will force you to make some very difficult choices. It is a commitment that demands that you deal with your lust, your greed, your pride, your power, your desire to control, your temper, your patience, and every area of temptation that the Bible clearly talks about. It demands the quality of commitment that Jesus demonstrates in His relationship to us.”  

Yet, Jesus Christ expects all Christians to aspire to the highest aspect of love - Agape or unconditional and sacrificial love. In John 15:12-13 Jesus said “This is my command: Love one another the way I love you. This is the best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friend." By these words Jesus shows how far love to another should extend, even to the laying down of our lives for our friends and neighbours.  

Lionel

Ref 1: Henri Nouwen, You are the Beloved. Daily Meditation for Spiritual Living. Hodder and Stoughtom, 2017