On
Valentine’s Day we hail the gift of Eros,
the love between two people that includes the kind of companionship and
intimacy that makes being human such a pleasure and such a struggle. Along with
Philos (the companionable love of
friends), Eros is gifted to us when,
in the second version of creation, God says, “It is not good that the man should
be alone.” (Gen. 2:18)
Created
for relationship, human beings need helpers and partners. Virtually all of us
need to be held in an embrace which proclaims affection and vulnerability as
well as commitment and accountability. As the “one flesh” embrace of committed
love, Eros is that kind of love. It
can be, and faith traditions argue that it is intended to be, a love of profound depth, substance, and holiness.
Apart from mutuality, however, Eros
leads us, at best, into the heartbreak of unrequited love. At worst, it mires
us pits of obsession and lust.
On
Valentine’s Day, we celebrate Eros with
physical expressions like chocolates, flowers, nice dinners, flirtation, and
romance.
Ash
Wednesday begins the liturgical season of Lent. And Lent is the journey of Agape love. Lent culminates with Passion
Week. Worship during Passion Week tends to be very physical, as well. It
includes things like Seder Meals, services of darkness and light, walking the stations
of the cross, and celebrating the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Passion Week gives
way to the great observance of Easter (Resurrection), which, along with
Christmas (Incarnation), proclaims God’s material presence in and undying love
for the Creation.
Agape love
is the passionate and unconditional love of divine initiative. Unlike Eros, it neither requires nor expects
requital. Agape is love that can’t be
helped. And while it is given in utter selflessness, purely for the benefit of
the other, true acceptance and embrace of Agape
is almost always marked by some sort loving response.
Perhaps
this is the way Agape love redeems.
It generates within those who embrace it responses of unfettered gratitude and
generosity.
All genuine
love is an expression of Agape love
in the same way that all of Creation itself is an expression of the Creator. We
are not God any more than Eros is Agape, but we are made by God, and even
of God (Julian of Norwich), just as Eros
and Philos are, at their purest, reiterations
of Agape.
The word
love is thrown about with careless
abandon in our culture. And it seems to me that to use that word without
intention is, in many cases, not much different than taking God’s name in vain.
Implicit in the acknowledgment that we are created by God is the affirmation
that we are connected by Love. Surely that is why we read in 1 John: “God is
love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”
Christmas.
Lent. Passion Week. Easter. Pentecost. Valentine’s Day. All of it is, at its
deepest heart, all about God, because God is all about Love.
No comments:
Post a Comment