Barneyisfat

And they lie to you. They tell you that love is real. They tell you that love will carry on, carry you through, or carry away your burdens. They tell you that if you are prettier, smarter, sportier, manlier, taller, thinner, leaner, bulkier, (etc) [__________ fill in the blank] that you will be good enough to be loved. But they lie to you. It simply isn’t true. The love story is false. The lines were rehearsed, the faces made up, the plot so contrite, the dialogue a bitter lie. People don’t love one another.

People lust after one another. They may respect one another. They may be compatible. But … this idea of a person being in love with another person is simply false. I’ve never seen it. I’ve seen moments of sacrificial love between people. They are few and far between.

Love is painful. Love tears at your heart … it rips open your stomach. There is nothing pretty about love. There are no pink frilly hearts involved in love. Love demands a sacrifice. You can’t love someone and not be willing to die for him or her. Jesus loved us and it got him death. We think that when we love someone it gets us sex. Our concept of love is simply wrong.

Our relationships are built on lust. Lust comes first in almost every relationship. We build our relationships from the foundation of lust. Even good evangelicals start a relationship by pursuing a girl who they would be happy to screw for the next 60 years.

We are being lied to. Jane Austen never figured it out. Ron Jeremy hasn’t figured it out. We are too busy filling our lives with stuff, with painful memories and thoughts, or with “pleasure” to ever experience love. Mother Teresa figured it out. I imagine that her heart bled with love – that she endured more pain in loving others than most of us could ever imagine.

Love is patient, love is kind … We don’t get it.