My wife and I launched into another discussion destined to end with a mutual understanding of the impossibility of empathetic understanding between males and females. I was particularly intrigued by the direction of thought. Both my wife and I married later in life, and as such, both participated in intense relationships prior to our marriage. Neither she nor I would have qualified as a "typical" romantic interest of the other, but having been married five years, we can decidedly say the Lord orchestrates relationships with much more substance than we would left to our own.
The conversation continued on, covering many of the same topics usually rehashed during the progression to realness following a drought of meaningful dialogue. Conversation turned to sources of passion within a relationship and the Lord triggered a thought in my egg-shaped head. If our passions are fueled by longings for the material happiness so tantalizingly presented by Hollywood, we are destined to limit our true understanding of passion. Falling into the trap of defining needs, wants and success by the boundaries of a fallen society will always leave us wanting more and doubting our abilities.
If I want for passion in my marriage, I must introspectively determine where I am getting my definition of passion. I'll go out on a limb and state my confidence in the following idea:
A couple living life sold-out, all in, unashamedly chasing Christ as the centerpiece of their marriage will never want for passion--not a fleshly passion, but the kind of passion that draws us out of ourselves, into the comfort and exhilaration of living a life outside of our control. Seems like real passion comes from living a life constantly chafing against the grain of society, definitions of success, and humanistic expectations so frequently used as points of reference. There is nothing like societal rejection to bring two lonely souls together with a shared common bond. Fortunately, Christ shared this same rejection.
Find passion fueled by recognition and hatred of the selfish fires driving society toward destruction, but long for the eternal company of the souls destined for destruction. What a splendid dichotomy to have modeled out in the life of our Savior. No wonder people listened to him...
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