I wrote these words in my journal recently: a simplified summary of all that has been going through my mind in the midst of dealing with current events in my life. Today I revisited these thoughts with a friend sitting in a cafe having lunch. My feeling is that movies, music, and culture itself have served us up a template of 'love' that is completely unrealistic, and yet I've subconsciously accepted it. I faced this realization as we had the discussion. I find myself looking for things all based around feelings and emotions, as I'm sure others do at times. Where is the music? Where are the fireworks? Where is the light shining down on someone so that I know I've found my soul mate? Another conversation I had recently, with a close friend, centered around this very topic. This friend brought out the point of view that if such love truly existed that we would never be able to function in our work lives, our school lives, etc. This burning desire to be with one's significant other would eclipse all other feelings, emotions, and responsibilities. Thus, where does this leave us? What should we/I be looking for out there? We know from a biblical standpoint that Adam was given the whole world and the love of God unconditional and yet he still yearned for something more. That something was a 'helpmate', a woman, someone to share the world with, because what good is everything if you have no one to share it with? This is a feeling that all of us share: all of us being sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. Although Adam had nothing else to go off of, what was it that he saw in Eve that made him know that she was what he was missing? Genesis says that Adam saw Eve and knew immediately that she was the 'helper' he was looking for because she was of his flesh. This makes the qualifications seem much simpler than the lists we have created for ourselves today. She was simply human, and that was enough. Outside of that, the reality that I spent some time thinking about was that Adam had an advantage none of the rest of us are given: he knew with full assurance that she was the one created specifically with him in mind. That is where I will leave this off because I am honestly not sure where to go from there. Where does that leave me? That's for me to ponder. Another question I can ask of you, reading this right now, is where does that leave you? Phil.
