Tuesday, January 10, 2012

To Deny Him

Have you thought for a second to ask yourselves why? Why I chose you two out of all people?
It's because yours is the rarest love of all.
Pure, unconditional and made holy in the eyes of He who I hate most.
A love like yours comes about but once in a millennia and to take that away from Him...
...to deny Him...
...is a victory like none other imaginable.
- Amazing Spider-Man #545
by  J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada

"Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner." - Genesis 2:18 (NRSV)

You might think I'm using this excerpt because of my own personal situation right now. I agree, that seems like a reasonable assumption. But I read this Spider-Man arc a mere couple of hours before I received my devastating news. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe God really can use comic books to speak to people.

I guess I've never really thought about the idea raised in this quote. I am all too well aware of how much pain can be inflicted upon the involved parties when a relationship collapses. But what does that do to God? How does it affect him? Especially when a relationship that he seemed to have been blessing suddenly and casually falls apart?

Does God also weep along with me?

Of course, the initial objection would be that this would only apply to a failed marriage. I say bully. A 3.5 year relationship requires monumental emotional and spiritual investment, even if it's never officially sealed with a ring or pomp and circumstance. And when such a relationship dissolves the harm can be just as severe.

So, what if the casual way we get into and end relationships, especially long-term, serious relationships, actually saddens God? Would we be a little more hesitant to strike up a new romance? Would we try a lot harder to make a current relationship succeed?

I admit I'm speaking off the cuff and I am woefully ignorant of any proper theological discourse in this matter. I'm just going off of a panel from a Spider-Man comic book. But it's making me ponder.

God created us to be in relation with him and with each other. We weren't created to casually throw these relations away.

But we do. All too often.

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