14: trying to figure out love

I went to the Broadway Beauty and the Beast tonight. What would break the spell? Love.

A rude, self-absorbed prince had to learn how to love. And he had to learn how to love Belle before he could expect her to love him back.

How did true love play out?

Well, at first it was a nauseous feeling.

And it encompassed a lot of giggles.

Ultimately, love allowed the Beast to put Belle's needs before his own and to let her go help her father.

Love transformed him.

Ultimately, love made Belle defend the Beast in the face of mockery and rush back to the castle to rescue him. Love made her cling to him, even as he was dying, and tell him she loved him.

I have to admit, I don't yet understand love.

I understand romance.

I think I understand commitment.

But somewhere in between the two something mysterious, magical, divine takes place it seems. Where not only are you willing to make a commitment to a person, but you want to. Where the most rational person on earth can say, "I will love you forever" and mean it. (That doesn't make sense.)

So much shallow love surrounds us. But I'm starting to think that amid all the fake declarations of love, there must be a kernel of truth. And amid all the immoral outplayings of love, there must be some real, divine love spurring it on, albeit in an undivine manner.

I'm thinking that love, the kind a man has for a woman and vice-versa, although so natural and earthy and innate in how God created us, is mysterious, magical, and divine.