Romance

One of the questions that has really been on my heart within this past year is: "What is romance?" Without a doubt, I am thrown the world's view of romance with neon lights and close-to-porn ads on the side of my computer screen, but really…seriously??? I wish we (the world) as a whole really understood what true romance looks like through the eyes of God.

Just being curious, I looked up the two definitions of romance…one from a dictionary, one from UrbanDictionary where real people define what they think the definition of romance is.

Dictionary definition; Romance-love, passion, ardor, adorations, devotion, affection, fondness, attachment. (hm, decent).

Urban Dictionary:

Romance= the most weirdest yet exciting feeling felt in the universe/romance is dead- it was acquired in a hostile takeover by Hallmark and Disney, homogenized, and sold off piece by piece/ disco balls/ romance is the process by which a woman charges the highest possible price for sex.

Maybe there really is a difference between love and romance. Maybe romance is simply the little reminders that love is still there waiting, always patient, always faithful. But I simply cannot make myself believe that romance is about what we hear on the radios, what we watch in some of the movies, or what friends tell other friends at sleepovers in a rather feverish manner about what happened between a person they like after a date, while all exclaim in unison, "How cute!!!!" or "Wow, he really did that? How romantic!!"

Is Twilight (for example) really doing this generation a favor by using Edward as "eye candy" for young teenage girls while portrayed as an emotionally and verbally abusive partner? What are we teaching this generation to look for when marriage might be a factor in the future? Selfishness? Looks? And yet, I have to remind myself that Christ has overcome the world…and though I was once wrapped up in the idea that romance was only a mushy scene after an innocent dinner date, that Christ was bigger and stronger than that. He has conquered my worldly view of romance with His Truth.

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading a passage in Proverbs 7.

"He was going down the street near her corner,

walking along in the direction of her house

at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark night set in.

Then came a woman to meet him,

dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.

(She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home;

now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks."

She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said:

'I have fellowship offerings at home; today I have fulfilled my vows'" (v. 8-14)

As sad as it seems, I look back to my younger years when movies such as THE NOTEBOOK and even movies in the recent past such as HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU from last year were popular. These movies that I used to find cute and appealing I now find that I cannot watch anymore without contempt. How many times can I say that this passage from Proverbs was me? How many of us look around and see each other going off into the evening with frilly outfits, alluring tops, or scandalous cut off shorts on to enjoy a "good-natured", "classy" date? Does this passage sound like dating today? It does to me. The passage goes on to say "…her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death" (v. 27). That is a really scary thought to me. The fact that this whole casual dating thing is acceptable not only in the real world, but also within Christian homes as well (among the preteens and teens). When I was into the whole dating thing, it seemed harmless in the midst of the fun, but when everything crumbled, I look back now and saw how toxic it was for me to be going off casually, leaving my family for the evening to indulge in something that, according to this passage, the Lord detests.

I view the movies that I mentioned earlier (and many like them) as "mockers" of the Lord's Truth, His beautiful plan for a pure romance that He desires to craft within my life and yours. They throw romance around in the dirt that is composed of adultery, jealousy, anger, and lack of commitment, and I think it's important that I catch things like this in my life so it doesn't water down how I view romance now. Can you imagine if people actually made movies that displayed romance as something that waited for true love, something that was only shared with ONE other person (the person that the other one was supposed to marry?), something that screamed faithfulness and commitment? Just like the fairy tales…well I guess A WALK TO REMEMBER is a good example, too. God never intended there to be a "bad romance" (Lady Gaga). He is the ultimate romantic, the God who streaks a different sunset for me (and you) with each evening, the God who faithfully awaits my messy arrival after being thrown down by temptation with open arms, the God who doesn't want my things or reputation or appearance but my heart, the God who desires me more than anything else in the world and will pursue me until the day I die in hopes that I might give my whole entire heart to Him. He is romantic. He is romance. And every day I think I find it more beautiful in some different way. How do you define romance? I'm interested and curious :)

-Taylor