"Daniel and Megan, you are about to abandon yourselves to each other, throw caution to the wind, forsake independence, isolation, and all others. You will vow to each other your undying love. before you do, we must call this what it is--this is perfect madness."
That got the crowd's attention.
"As an aspiration, how lovely. As a reality, how rare. Everyone wants love; everyone is looking for love. Few seem to find what they are looking for; fewer still seem able to sustain it. Why in heaven's name would you come to church to publicly dedicate yourselves to something so risky, so fraught with danger, so scandalous? 'The heart has its reasons,' Pascal confessed, 'that reason knows not of.' Deep in the wellspring of our hearts there is a desire--for intimacy, beauty, and adventure. And no matter what anyone might say, we look for it all the days of our lives.
"Friends, I know what you are thinking. As you watch this today, there is something in your heart that says, 'Well maybe. Maybe this time. Maybe this couple.' But what if, what if Daniel and Megan, in all their frail humanity, are living our before us right now a picture, a metaphor of something far more real and substantial. I'd like to suggest that this is no common passion play. Things are never what they seem. If you would see things clearly you must see with the eyes of the heart. That is the secret of every fairy tale, because it is the secret to the Gospel, because it is the secret to life.
"Scripture tells us that we might at any time entertain an angel simply by welcoming a stranger. The serpent in the garden is really the Prince of Darkness. The carpenter from Nazareth--there is more to him than meets the eye as well. Things are not what they seem, and so if we would understand our lives--and especially our marriages--we must listen again to the Gospel and the fairy tales based upon it. There are larger events unfolding around us, events of enormous consequence. A lamp is lit and love is lost. A box is opened and evil swarms into the worlds. An apple is taken and mankind is plunged into darkness. Moments of immense consequence are taking place all around us. Especially this.
"Dearly beloved, you see before you a man and a woman. But there is more here than meets the eye. God gave us this passion play to reenact, right here and now, the story of the ages. This is the story of mankind, the one story we have been telling ourselves over and over again, in every great myth and legend and poem and song. It is a love story, set in the midst of desperate times, set in the midst of war. It is a story of a shared quest. It is a story of romance. Daniel and Megan are playing out before you now the deepest and most mythic reality in the world. This is the story of God's romance with mankind."
...this is just part of an excerpt from chapter one of John & Staci Eldredge's new book, Love & War. You can find the rest of it here:
Love & War Excerpt. I encourage you to at least look at this portion of the book, if for some reason you aren't inspired to go out & grab it right now. It looks incredible!
