At the very start Hugh Grant opens with a statement about Love...
“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends “
LOVE... that fuzzy feeling inside, the warmth felt in your fingers and toes...love is all around apparently. We have 8 different lives, all entwined and all showing expressions of love. Love that was never meant to be, love that is in marriage, outside of marriage, adultery, love that is painful, a love found in a different country, first love, forever love, forgotten love, lost love. The theme of Love rings out for sure.
Everyone wants to be LOVED. As humans we crave Love from each other and feel lonely when we don't feel loved.
If you could pick a story line that most expressed the type of love that you desired what would it be?
Would it be the Love of an old couple, yet one being tempted into adultery?
Would it be the Love of the woman longing for a relationship and yet when its in her grips, she loses it because her brother is more important.
Would it be Love that is lost because your partner dies?
Would it be the Love of a man seeking his destiny as a writer and then stumbling across Love accidentally.
Would it be the innocence of First love of a small boy, who runs around an airport in eager expectation of telling the young girl that he loves her...
Or perhaps it would be the Love of a man running to every house to find his soul mate.
None of them seem perfect or seem to satisfy. Yet the world is talking about Love in the middle of suffering, pain and war. Because we can Cling to Love. Yet Love as shown in this film is not perfect. In fact there are lots of imperfections here, lots of hurt and pain and miscommunication which adds to the humor. There is emotional ties in Love, which get attached and crossed over with people. It is bound to get messy.
However the great news of the Gospel is that we are made for relationship...we can see that in this film. All the scenes are about relationships and how we yearn for perfect relationships. Wouldn't it be amazing if you could have a relationship with someone and there not be any hurt, any Gossip, any harmful acts...but it be pure, loving, patient, kind and fulfilling. Is that not what people want?
What if you could offer people this love from God? As we look at that list above, I don't think I would want to be any of them. But I would want a Love that is fulfilling, one that I didn't have to prove myself for or run around to get. A love that is always there, always faithful, always forgiving and goes that one step further and presents us as perfect - seeking to serve us and love us. I am amazed at how we go searching for love and yet have it right here in front of us - the Love of Christ resounds in the Gospel and this is a love we can offer to the broken hearted. The Cross is a place of great love and sacrifice, one that we can continue to cling to and know that it will never fail us.
So as we watch this film, let us think what Love truly is and how each scenario paints a picture of 1) a world craving for love and 2) Perfect Love is found in Christ alone...
If Christ is out of the picture then we can see the foundation of Love crumble...but with Christ in the picture then the picture is complete. We no longer have to go searching for Love, for it is right there in front of us!!
1 comment:
I love this Cat. It's really great how you've thought it through and so clear what these people in the film need. And what a truly great film to choose!!
Post a Comment