Romeo. Prince Charming. Mr. Darcy. Superman. They are highlights of the history of romantic heroes, our knights in shining armor. Legends that have lived through centuries and tugged at the heartstrings of females, young and old, from every nation, even up to the present day. We women love our fairy tales because they make us believe true love really does exist out there, that some day our prince will come and we’ll actually get to live happily ever after.
Romantic heroes offer us the hope of unconditional love, unyielding commitment, timely rescue from our plight, sacrificial protection from evil, absolute provision of our every need and an intimate relationship with a perfect lover. To love and be loved in return, as Christian from Moulin Rouge so aptly summarized.
The draw, however, reaches farther than our silly, girl-brains wishing for the humanly impossible. After all, males are subject to the power these stories wield as well, even having penned many of them.
The attraction is born out of our DNA. We all crave a perfect love because we were made by the Perfect Love. Humans, created by the Creator, God Almighty, are designed to love, because He is love, and also to be loved perfectly by Him. We read and write fairy tales, consciously or sub-consciously, because of the proverbial God-shaped hole in our souls.
Even Jesus used parables during His earthly ministry. In many cases, that’s what fairy tales are – a way to wrap our brains around His fathomless, flawless love. We gain insight to the real world when we imagine and explore our longings because often times it is that built-in draw to our Creator guiding those thoughts. We can picture Jesus as Aslan the Lion in The Chronicles of Narnia or Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, and it helps us get a grasp on who He is and what He’s done for us.
Romantic heroes are an extension of this imagery. The problem, as I’ve mentioned before, is many of us can’t or won’t see Jesus as a Lover, in the romantic, passionate, Song of Solomon way. That’s… at the least, weird; at the most, blasphemous… right?
No way. Look at our hero attributes, the ones we crave from fairy tales. Unconditional love, unyielding commitment or covenant, timely rescue from our plight or sins, sacrificial protection from evil, absolute provision, an intimate relationship with the Perfect Lover… Jesus is the real deal. Reading the fairy tales, like parables, helps us grasp His reality.
Many romantic heroes in our present age have suffered under our culture’s declining morality.
But just when you thought chivalry had died, we are blessed with yet another hero to sweep us off our feet. Thanks to New York Times best selling author Stephanie Meyer and her best selling Twilight Saga, we now have Edward Cullen.
Wait a minute, you say. Isn’t Edward a vampire? Aren’t vampires evil? How can reading a vampire book bring me closer to Jesus?
Stay tuned. You will be dazzled.
(click here for next chapter: A Rose is a Vampire is a Rose)
6 comments:
This is a long anticipated series by me! I have been waiting with bated breath. Thank you for writing it! I will tune in every single post!
Ooh, intriguing post, Lori! I can't wait to read part 2. The craving we all have for perfect love is indeed borne from our need for God. No human can love us as completely, fiercely, or unconditionally as He does.
I love Twilight and am anxious to read what you have to say next! Thanks!
Ohhhhh. Bring it. I want to be dazzled. Great post, Lori.
We all crave a perfect love because we were made BY the Perfect Love.
That sentence is amazing!
So excited to read your posts for this series! Keep 'em coming!
wow! I have never really thought about it this way but I agree with you on everything! I love Twilight and I most certainly love Jesus!!:)
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