I came across this article by author, columnist, radio host and Lutheran minister Dr. Mark J. Molldrem in the Beaver Dam Daily Citizen newspaper. Beaver Dam is a small town in Wisconsin (population 16,243) close to where I live. The article speaks about February as the month of love with references to William Shakespeare and Teilhard de Chardin. You can read the entire article here but set forth below is an extended excerpt:
Every generation has its collection of songs and poems and stories about love that inspires the mind, warms the heart and emboldens the will. Love stirs the deepest level of the human spirit. Among the best of writers in our Western culture who has stirred the heart-strings of love in readers and theater-goers is William Shakespeare.
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“…Love is not love/which alters when it alteration finds/…O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,/That looks on tempests and is never shaken;” Love is the disposition of the soul towards another person that is the gift of committed relationship despite the “warts and all” in the other. Love’s throne is not the sexual organs, but the soul. This means that one can love even a scoundrel; it means that love can root deeper, even when the sexual blossoms have fallen off the flower; it means that love can grow in the midst of devastating circumstances; it also means that one can love the one with whom living in a marriage relationship is no longer viable and changes must be made. Love does not mean one has to “like” others or even do what only “feels comfortable and cozy” in relationship with others.
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One may question the veracity with which to hold these insights without questions or provisional circumstances; yet, they do indeed challenge us to explore the depth of our own understanding and devotion to love—as they call us to delve deeper to discover that passionate fire that warms our breath. As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (paleontologist priest) has written: “The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire.”
A recent insight into the nature of love reminds me now to see love not only as something that happens to us, but as something we choose to make manifest through our actions.
Was it Augustine who first said, Love is the Law, love under Will?”
Hi Debra:
Excellent insight. I had not heard the quote you mentioned but it sounds like something St. Augustine would have said. A related phrase that I try to live by in my relationships (with very mixed success) is “Live is a verb, not a noun”.
Peace,
W. Ockham
Love the quote from Teilhard de Chardin.
Rosaliene, it is one of my favorite quotes also!
I have also used that quote from Teilhard as it is a favourite of mine as well. Thanks for sharing this. It is good to hear that so many people are quoting Teilhard in many different media.
Lynda, it’s Teilhard’s spirit seeping into the developing Noosphere 🙂
So very true. I picture him smiling at how slow we all are to catch his fire! But I believe he knows how much his writings have contributed to so many people – I picture his images every time the mass is celebrated. I am so grateful to Teilhard and to Saint Ignatius for sharing their incredible thoughts with us. Blessings.
Lynda, I agree with everything you said. One of the many things I admire about Teilhard is the quiet confidence he had in staying with his vision, despite obstacles from the Church and broader society. He died alone with none of his major theological works published. Sixty years later his influence is starting to increase again.
Peace,
W. Ockham
Beautiful quote. I haven’t seen it in years, but I remember how moving I found it the first time I read it.