je t'aime

Yesterday I watched an interesting movie which was a composite of five minute vignettes under the title "Paris je t'aime" (Paris I love you). There was a vast variety of interpretations of this theme - some beautiful, some bizarre, some simple, some thought provoking. The story which caught me was the final one, narrated in French but definitely with an American accent, was the story of a woman who had learned French and dreamed of Paris.

She was very ordinary, a mail carrier and yet sitting in a park at the end of her story she fell in love with Paris - as she looks around the busy city oasis she recalls her life and her friends, the fact she is travelling alone, she sees children playing and people picnicking and then she is filled with mixed emotions - and she proclaims herself in love. Joy and sadness she notes - but she is in love with the city.

If we ever watch romantic movies we might be tempted to think that resolution is the answer to love - that true love comes in a moment of discovery and then everything is alright from then on out. But love does not work like that, love is much more a mixture because in love we are brought to be who we are.

A middle aged woman on a Paris park bench, recalls she is alone but loves where she is. This mixture of self-revelation and self-awareness is powerful when mixed with the feeling of being at home in a place which she feels so at one with.

Love is a strange thing - at the same time it seems to bind us and demand honesty from us. This is never more true than the love which we experience from the heart of God. In God's presence and praise we are both in love and brutally exposed to the sadnesses which aflict us. This is not a contradiction - this is what I loved about the piece in the movie - it allowed the full affection of falling in love without any pretence at perfection. Such is the love we are offered - capable of filling us, capable of holding our all.