Things are getting a little out of hand when it comes to television these days. The premise of this new show on FOX is that 12 American girls come to an English country home and going on some spectacular dates with the one and only Prince Harry in a Bachelor style soiree. There’s only one problem. “Sir” is not Prince Harry.
Not a prince or a duke or whatever sort of royalty strikes your fancy but a guy. A normal guy. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be anything more terrifying then their Prince Charming ending up being just a normal guy.
Don’t we do that though? We watch movies and read books and get a thoroughly over exaggerated view of what it means to love and to be loved. It’s sudden. A passing glance through a crowd. A angry fight between enemies becomes a passionate embrace. Points to that team for blatant skewing of reality.
Television shows like these suggest to their audience that every action has to have an poignant “point.” If you’re going to go on a date, it has to be extravagant to the point of silliness. You must share everything that’s almost true and nothing actually about yourself to almost fool your date into thinking you are an interesting and worth pursuing because you genuine personality is never good enough.
Most of all, we look at the romantic relationships of others as stuff for criticism and mocking. It teaches us to be an audience on the sidelines and to disengage from relationships.
Impersonal. Depressing. Petty and just sad.
We forget we are individuals. We don’t have to be a we. I have my own needs, thoughts, wants, hopes, dreams and I need to surround myself with people that contribute to those things. I have ideals, I have expectations, I have injunctions (however sillY) against certain bands and art movements. I am I. He is He.
In love–in real honest, vulnerable, Christ-like love–there is a sense of mutual approbation between two people. Of acceptance and hope for a better future because of the power that comes from learning from each other.
Humility, patience, tactfulness are not always there when tempers are high, but it is what I strive for in my relationships everyday. I don’t need to scorn the “relationships” of others in order to achieve happiness in my own.
Television is not reality no matter what the stations say.
Reality is the hard fought moments of everyday that wear me out and lead me to the revitalizing words and embraces of the One that I love most. The one who gives me everything, everyday without a second of complaining. My Brother. My Elder Brother. My relationship with Him will echo in all other interactions and potential relationships I have. My relationship with Him is eternal and if I want any other of my relationships to be successful in that sense, I need to remember Christ.
To be aware of the people around me as His is, to stand as His messenger and confidant and helper in a world where love has been cheapened to a “reality TV show”, that will help provide me with the enduring love that makes of stuff of romantic history.
My love starts for Christ and doesn’t have to end. It expands everyday. It understands more. It gets involved and breaks my heart sometimes. But it is always worth it. Real love doesn’t degrade or deceive.
Don’t be fooled by what you see on the silver screen. Look inside yourself. See what your “I” needs. See how close your “I” is to your Father and Brother. See how your “I” changes as your love changes. See how your “I” can then expand to “we” as you find another who’s love echoes Christ’s. Bring a whole new meaning to the words you say everyday.
I love you
