I was just here listening to this song by Shinedown called If you Only Knew. A line in the song is “If you only knew, I’d sacrifice my beating heart before I lose you.” For some reason or another, this time when I heard this part my mind segwayed, or rather, was set on a thought fancy. Follow my mental ramblings, I have concluded that this line has two solid points of implication.
To sacrifice one's beating heart, isn’t that what every guy wants to be able to say about their beloved? I mean how much more noble can you get than sacrificing your life for someone?
Incidentally, I believe that is wherein the first problem lies. Certainly, such a heroic act, if actually carried out is beyond noble; it is exquisite. However, saying a noble thing and doing a heroic act are as matters of substance, completely different. I see the expression of this extreme and noble sacrifice to overlook the romance available in the mundane. I believe that in pursuing such elevated expressions of love, we, men, overlook the literal heart of the matter.
The demand of but an instant of courage in the attempt to do something truly great is easily desired and perhaps less demanding or less likely to weigh heavily than the usual day-in day-out aspects of life. I would say that it is far easier to profess willingness to cut out one's heart in a far-off, unlikely, future instant than it is perhaps to allow little nicks and scars to develop because of the needles of the ongoing daily demands that comprise true love.
Another approach or tangent that could be taken from these words though is that of the emotive pathos of the hopeless lover. "I'd die if I can't have you" or other such controlling phrases simply have no place in the realm of romantic love. The uttering of such nonsense has no other effect than to blackmail the heart of the beloved with heavy chains. It puts her in the position of being either selfish in her own escape from your oppressive love or scared into staying to avoid a painful guilt trip knowing that she killed you. For such a lover, the beloved is naught more than a possession.
That sort of love is simply twisted. It demands, it wants and it must possess the beloved. Love, if not freely given, is of little consequence in the realm of romance.
Go and Set the World Ablaze
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
"To Frances"
I chanced upon this epic piece of literature by G.K. Chesterton. I was astounded by the seriousness in which he presented the objects he intended to carry and the future home he sought to describe. Then the punch line came and I realized, this was a love letter written by Chesterton. Having always looked at "love letters" as something decidedly trite and unworthy of writing, my reality was jarred by the fact that one of my favorite literary figures had stooped to such a low level.
However this was not the case because then it hit me. Chesterton, in his very chestertonian fashion, had not actually written a "love letter" but instead had taken the concept, flipped it on its head, and rewrote the boundaries. He had once again, taken something so common, so basal, and in converting it, had restored it to a level of nobility once again. Just as the Bible is much like a love-letter from God to us, Chesterton took a simple setting and wrote quite exquisitely to Frances.
What is now stuck in my head is the concern as to whether I could write even to half the standard of Chesterton's. I could, if you will, easily replicate his pattern by soulfully devising my own checklist of carry-ons as I regale you of my intended flight and picturesque future. However, that would simply be me taking an already understood pattern from a highly literary individual and re-using it. It would not be me pouring out my thoughts and designs into a carefully crafted mold formed by my very heart. It would not walk the guise of my own fairyland.
I wonder in fact, how then I would translate the general points of a chestertonian love letter into my own literary fashion. It, like Chesterton's, would need to be personalized because otherwise it would still be left hollow and generic. However, the remaining content of the letter, the matters of literary value, are something that as of yet escape me. I will think on it for now, and work on something at a later date when there is a date in mind. So, for now, I leave you with this quote:
"...we come to a box of matches. Every now and then I strike one of these, because fire it beautiful and burns your fingers. Some people think this a waste of matches, the same people who object to the building of Cathedrals." ~ G.K. Chesterton from "To Frances"
Go and Set the World Ablaze
However this was not the case because then it hit me. Chesterton, in his very chestertonian fashion, had not actually written a "love letter" but instead had taken the concept, flipped it on its head, and rewrote the boundaries. He had once again, taken something so common, so basal, and in converting it, had restored it to a level of nobility once again. Just as the Bible is much like a love-letter from God to us, Chesterton took a simple setting and wrote quite exquisitely to Frances.
What is now stuck in my head is the concern as to whether I could write even to half the standard of Chesterton's. I could, if you will, easily replicate his pattern by soulfully devising my own checklist of carry-ons as I regale you of my intended flight and picturesque future. However, that would simply be me taking an already understood pattern from a highly literary individual and re-using it. It would not be me pouring out my thoughts and designs into a carefully crafted mold formed by my very heart. It would not walk the guise of my own fairyland.
I wonder in fact, how then I would translate the general points of a chestertonian love letter into my own literary fashion. It, like Chesterton's, would need to be personalized because otherwise it would still be left hollow and generic. However, the remaining content of the letter, the matters of literary value, are something that as of yet escape me. I will think on it for now, and work on something at a later date when there is a date in mind. So, for now, I leave you with this quote:
"...we come to a box of matches. Every now and then I strike one of these, because fire it beautiful and burns your fingers. Some people think this a waste of matches, the same people who object to the building of Cathedrals." ~ G.K. Chesterton from "To Frances"
Go and Set the World Ablaze
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Four+ Loves
Friendship floats on the tranquil sea gently cushioning our hearts in the sails of comrades as we pass the doldrums of life.
Affection is an affliction caused by an infection to friendship.
Romance, further still, tugs at the heart strings of our souls until we unwind in a mess or tangle with another strand.
Charity with her little fingers then weaves that yarn into a quilt as exquisite as it is complex.
Eros, in its primal fixation of the beloved, consummates in the marriage bed (under the covers of romance).
Storge then provides the needed gift-love to nurture the needy gift-child.
The cycle repeats. Neither your nerves nor your heart are safe.
Affection is an affliction caused by an infection to friendship.
Romance, further still, tugs at the heart strings of our souls until we unwind in a mess or tangle with another strand.
Charity with her little fingers then weaves that yarn into a quilt as exquisite as it is complex.
Eros, in its primal fixation of the beloved, consummates in the marriage bed (under the covers of romance).
Storge then provides the needed gift-love to nurture the needy gift-child.
The cycle repeats. Neither your nerves nor your heart are safe.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Eye Sea Yew
It seems that it takes very little for me to get riled up about this specific hypocrisy. It's the malaise of the those who uses phrases such as "Stereotypes are wrong" & "Not all are the same" in the manner the rest of use would use "God Bless" to a social sneeze.
The same people who will tiptoe through daisy's to avoid coming even close to stereotyping or pegging someone into a category are the same kind of people who will think they know who I am and what I believe immediately after they find I am Catholic. I am pegged with a spear into a category of misunderstanding and misrepresentation. Instead of asking me, things are assumed about me in the same manner a less than educated individual might imply that all Japanese are the most excellent of students.
"Ah, so you won't have sex before marriage... that's too bad" or "No sex? (complete with quizzical look)." If I respond with, "well, yeah." or "nope I won't." I'm then not even given a chance to explain why. They've received their answer and now assume that I believe sex to be some sort of abomination, or, worse socially, that I somehow think they are evil because of some personal guilt of theirs of which I am unaware.
The fact of the matter is, yes, Catholics (those who are seeking to be in accord with Christ's church) don't have sex before marriage for the completely opposite reason. Instead of sex being something dirty to be avoided in the purist of puritanical senses, sex is something wonderful, mysterious, and a gift. Instead of cheapening it by wielding it as slightly better than a handshake, the Catholic ideal is to seek to save it as something precious like a lace handkerchief that is presented at the right time to the deserving Beloved.
Or even better, let me use this analogy. Imagine for a minute that sex is like a gift-wrapped package with a fragile glass egg inside. Each time you hand that package to a new person and it is reopened, how long will it be before it becomes impossible to properly re-wrap it in its original wrapping? How much so will the fragility of the glass egg succumb to its abuse? Eventually, you the gift-giver give up on giving away anything other than a grotty gift. Eventually too, the recipient has to notice the lack of value that the package has anymore and that the beautiful glass egg that was inside has lost its luster.
This is not to say there isn't hope for those who have already handed their present away, or had their egg chipped away at. That is, in fact, a discussion for another time and is concerned with the unique expertise of Christianity: Forgiveness. However, you must recognize there is something wrong before one can even seek forgiveness.
Does this current generation, I am a part of, care so much for transient pleasures and having their desires fulfilled instantaneously that they can't engage in any noble ventures anymore? What happened to the ideal lover who saved her heart in a music box when her beloved departed on a journey for years, only to hand it back to him upon his return? What happened to the Beloveds who lock away their heart with a key of steeled resolve, so that when their special lover arrives, they can nobly open the lock on their heart?
Both the noble concepts of the Lovers and Beloveds are lost on those with secular eyes. The secular eye sees only this world and its relation to itself. It, as a matter of fact, rests on the forehead staring inward and is useless for anyone but the self and even in that fashion is severely limited. However, the Christian eye branches into a level of third-eye understanding as it stares into eternity unblinkingly equipped with love as a sword and shield to overcome its enemies. Until the secular eye can be transformed into or exchanged for the Christian third-eye, the two parties can apparently never see eye-to-eye so they can look blissfully into eternity together.
Go and Set the World Ablaze
The same people who will tiptoe through daisy's to avoid coming even close to stereotyping or pegging someone into a category are the same kind of people who will think they know who I am and what I believe immediately after they find I am Catholic. I am pegged with a spear into a category of misunderstanding and misrepresentation. Instead of asking me, things are assumed about me in the same manner a less than educated individual might imply that all Japanese are the most excellent of students.
"Ah, so you won't have sex before marriage... that's too bad" or "No sex? (complete with quizzical look)." If I respond with, "well, yeah." or "nope I won't." I'm then not even given a chance to explain why. They've received their answer and now assume that I believe sex to be some sort of abomination, or, worse socially, that I somehow think they are evil because of some personal guilt of theirs of which I am unaware.
The fact of the matter is, yes, Catholics (those who are seeking to be in accord with Christ's church) don't have sex before marriage for the completely opposite reason. Instead of sex being something dirty to be avoided in the purist of puritanical senses, sex is something wonderful, mysterious, and a gift. Instead of cheapening it by wielding it as slightly better than a handshake, the Catholic ideal is to seek to save it as something precious like a lace handkerchief that is presented at the right time to the deserving Beloved.
Or even better, let me use this analogy. Imagine for a minute that sex is like a gift-wrapped package with a fragile glass egg inside. Each time you hand that package to a new person and it is reopened, how long will it be before it becomes impossible to properly re-wrap it in its original wrapping? How much so will the fragility of the glass egg succumb to its abuse? Eventually, you the gift-giver give up on giving away anything other than a grotty gift. Eventually too, the recipient has to notice the lack of value that the package has anymore and that the beautiful glass egg that was inside has lost its luster.
This is not to say there isn't hope for those who have already handed their present away, or had their egg chipped away at. That is, in fact, a discussion for another time and is concerned with the unique expertise of Christianity: Forgiveness. However, you must recognize there is something wrong before one can even seek forgiveness.
Does this current generation, I am a part of, care so much for transient pleasures and having their desires fulfilled instantaneously that they can't engage in any noble ventures anymore? What happened to the ideal lover who saved her heart in a music box when her beloved departed on a journey for years, only to hand it back to him upon his return? What happened to the Beloveds who lock away their heart with a key of steeled resolve, so that when their special lover arrives, they can nobly open the lock on their heart?
Both the noble concepts of the Lovers and Beloveds are lost on those with secular eyes. The secular eye sees only this world and its relation to itself. It, as a matter of fact, rests on the forehead staring inward and is useless for anyone but the self and even in that fashion is severely limited. However, the Christian eye branches into a level of third-eye understanding as it stares into eternity unblinkingly equipped with love as a sword and shield to overcome its enemies. Until the secular eye can be transformed into or exchanged for the Christian third-eye, the two parties can apparently never see eye-to-eye so they can look blissfully into eternity together.
Go and Set the World Ablaze
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Well... worst fears?
Just to start off with, it has taken me a total of a week to start playing video games nearly everyday again. >_< I'm definitely playing less than I used to... but I can't tell if that is because of school or not. Anyway, it doesn't matter because I still haven't found an effective stress-relief method. I run-away to one or another.
The problem quite possibly is my running. Sometimes, I think that guys just need to dip their fingers into the pool of lethe's water and forget their lives for a moment. I need to.. or at least it has been my Modus operandi. So, I escape to the world of a video game, read books (okay, so that is rare right now because of all the reading I do for school... but, ), watch Tv, borrow a movie from Redbox, visit youtubeland, or go outside and run around the block a couple of times.
"One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong" is not the right adage for the moment right now. Instead, the question is what do these all have not in common. That's right, they are neutral events. They are not necessarily religious nor intrinsically evil. Simply put, I need to learn to run back to God instead of just running in circles or running away.
Stand fast Stand strong
Go and Set the World Ablaze
Unsheathe your Rosary and Pray
The problem quite possibly is my running. Sometimes, I think that guys just need to dip their fingers into the pool of lethe's water and forget their lives for a moment. I need to.. or at least it has been my Modus operandi. So, I escape to the world of a video game, read books (okay, so that is rare right now because of all the reading I do for school... but, ), watch Tv, borrow a movie from Redbox, visit youtubeland, or go outside and run around the block a couple of times.
"One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong" is not the right adage for the moment right now. Instead, the question is what do these all have not in common. That's right, they are neutral events. They are not necessarily religious nor intrinsically evil. Simply put, I need to learn to run back to God instead of just running in circles or running away.
Stand fast Stand strong
Go and Set the World Ablaze
Unsheathe your Rosary and Pray
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