Living Romantically ....

I have this theory … and I’m not sure how much of it is from desperation vs. how much of it is from actual seeking and embracing. I believe that it is possible, even healthy, to ‘live romantically’ … and it has nothing to do with whether one is involved in a boy/girlfriend relationship or not. Oh, sure, there is an element of a ‘relationship’ that is conducive to ‘romance’ ~ I won't deny that ~ but I don’t think that one is dependent on the other. Let me see if I can explain …

Dictionary.com defines ‘romance’ as “ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love; a mysterious or fascinating quality or appeal, as of something adventurous, heroic, or strangely beautiful” among other definitions. ‘Live’ is defined as “to pursue a positive, satisfying existence; enjoy life; to practice in one's life.” Those are the denotative explanations, and yes, those are the basis for my theory … but in my heart, it is OH SO MUCH MORE!!! And when I teach, it is my goal to communicate this with my students ~ to help them understand the joy one can get out of living, that has nothing to do with whether they have a boy/girlfriend in their lives or not.

Jesus Christ stated his mission thusly: I came so that you might have life and have it abundantly. The first command given from God to humanity in the Bible was to ‘eat’ … and the last command given to humanity was to ‘drink’. In order to exist in this 4-dimensional realm, it is mandatory that we ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ … to fail to do either ends in death. I believe that what lies in between that 'eat' and 'drink' is the ultimate guide for true 'romantic living'. In my mind, living romantically has everything to do with embracing the purpose of Christ’s coming. To cherish each moment we have been given, to smell the spring rains deeper, to drink in the views of God’s magnificent creation, to ‘carpe diem’ in every sense of the word. Like Tim McGraw sings in his latest song, "I went sky diving, I went Rocky Mountain climbing, I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named FuManchu; and then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter and I watched an eagle as it was flying and he said someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying." Oh, why do we wait that long?? Why do we wait until we are dying to discover all that we missed out while living?? Too often it seems to me that people get lost in mourning the past and what they lost or missed or are so fearful of the future and what it might hold … and miss the wondrous, amazing things of what is here, right now … at our finger tips.

I try to live my life in such a way as to surround myself with things that are beautiful, that are nourishing and healing to who I am and what I was created to be … I do not live my life such that I would be called ‘high maintenance’ … there is more to beauty than what is externally manipulated. I accept that I was nor will ever be beautiful enough to enter a beauty contest and win (or even place for that matter!!), but I hope that there is something that is attractive and ‘beautiful’ about me that comes about, not from the beauty that is the quality that is graded in the media, but from beauty that comes from inside. I believe there is ‘beauty’ and there is ‘beauty' … and to believe life is all about only ONE and miss the other is missing the whole point of romantic living, to completely miss the reason for Christ’s coming.

I read something the other day that left me speechless … this may appear to be unrelated, but hang on … follow me down this bunny trail and I’ll do my best to share the connections in my mind …

“A theology is a system of thought that enables us to answer the ultimate questions of our lives in reference to God.
- When we try to figure out what God expects of us to do for a livelihood and how that intersects our inner, spiritual life – we are formulating a theology of work.
- When we try to figure out our own sexual issues and problems, and compare them to what we understand of God’s designs for sex and marriage – we are developing a theology of sexuality.
- When we try to determine our relationship to the environment, and what God requires of us in caring for it – we are developing a theology of nature.
- When facing death of a loved one, a close friend, or even our own death, and struggle with understanding hat life and death are all about, and what waits for us beyond time, matter and space – we are developing an eschatology.
You get the point. We all have opinions and feelings about such ultimate concerns – and to that extent, we are all theologians.
That everyone has a theology, whether they call it that or not, is fact. It is also a fact, unfortunately, that our tendency is to absolutize our own theology, to convince ourselves that our neat little systems of belief we have constructed over the years is The Truth.
It’s a short distance from “God’s way is my way” to “My way is God’s way”. God is greater than any theology or system of ideas we come up with about God. God is not defined by our systems, by our theologies – not even by our firm convictions about Him or Her. Yes … or Her – for God also transcends anything we think we know about masculinity and femininity. Check your New Testament Greek: against the masculine God the Father and Son, the Holy Spirit is referred to in the feminine gender. Even the Trinity defies the systematic packaging that theologies try to give it.
Far from any individual’s theology being The Right One, in one sense all theologies are heresies. For theologies, like heresies, are major or minor distortions of the truth. We know in part and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. (ICor.13:9-10)
In other words, what you believe may be partly correct, but it is certainly not completely correct. The point? We must always be open to further insights that will give us fuller understanding of what God is all about.
Let’s get one thing straight: the One Thing. The one certainty against which all our theologies are guesswork. “This one thing I know,” the apostle Paul wrote: Jesus. Jesus and how his crucifixion delivered us from sin, and how his resurrection assures us of eternal life.
I believe these are unquestionable absolutes for all Christians … and perhaps the only absolutes. In the end, God’s truth is not a theology, but a person. Our faith is not about Jesus Christ, not based on Jesus Christ – it is Jesus Christ.”

Wow. What a paradigm shift! Isn’t that the ultimate romance? The ultimate in living romantically?? Intimacy, wholely completely loving Christ ~ right now ~ and Him loving me, right now, too … a REAL relationship here and now with Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ. Not a theology, not knowing as much as one can about the miracles or the words or the actions; not based on who this person WAS that walked the earth … but who Jesus IS … alive and living in me right now. And, in this incredible intimacy, I can look at the world around, the one that he created back when he first moved over the space that had no form and from His hand … truly CREATED from nothing … and I can seek to connect to that which He saw as good. And beautiful. In Christ’s death, I am liberated from all that holds me back … all sin that would damn me is done away with. I have nothing to fear with Christ in me. I can LIVE. He has fought the battle with the Evil One and he has already won … and in his death, his descent into hell for three days and HIS RESURRECTION … there is nothing that satan can throw at me that will change my rejoicing in my salvation. Like the ancient Israelites who received salvation from the hands of the prophets of old, I can also embrace my salvation from the sin of this world. I claim it. I lose myself in the Christ within me who has called me to him.

A former student of mine once wrote in a reference letter for me: “Another one of her ideas she wanted to communicate to us was that of being a ‘romantic.’ Being a romantic is not about having a man in your life, she told us; it is about how you live your life and capture every moment. And she did!! She was never afraid to admit that something was so beautiful or powerful that it made her cry, and you could tell that she felt it deep down and was very passionate about it. Miss ~ is such a passionate person and it shines through so much in everything she does. If one is looking for a person that will teach exactly according to curriculum and tradition without spending time adding anything extra, or giving much of a challenge, then Miss ~ is not that person. If you want someone to teach the requirements, but add music, beauty, laughter, enthusiasm, life lessons, challenge, character (“panache” as they call it in Cyrano de Bergerac), inspiration, and a large dose of passion, Miss ~ is that person.”

When I first heard the voice of Josh Groban, I cried. When I sit in front of a fire with a glass of wine, alone, I cry. I cry, not because it is sad or that I am lonely. But I cry because I am moved by the beauty which envelopes me. When I hear music or see a sight that defies words, and when I know I am in God’s presence ~ it is good. If I can communicate this to others, maybe I can nudge God in them, which may or may not be acknowledged, to connect with the beauty, which He ultimately created to begin with.

And if I never marry, if I am destined to never share this passion with another human, I know that I am complete in my greatest Lover of all. And I will seek to always celebrate this relationship in the appreciation of the beauty, which is always in the world around me, and available for me to experience right now. Salvation is mine. All of me with all of God in all of life.

And, maybe in a way connected to the quote at the beginning, this is my 'theology of living romantically'. My theology based on the One Truth. I thank God that He is bigger than anything I can imagine or comprehend, bigger than any theology or religion, and yet He is right here, right now, loving me as I am, with all my faults. Thank you. In Him, I can truly and authentically live romantically every day of my life. Every moment I am here.