I would define romance as the initial rush of magical feelings that nature bestows on you to nudge you into a long-term, enduring loving relationship.
I can see that in romantic novels and films, such as Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin. You can see the romance in Mr. Darcy and Lizzie Bennet as they go through conflict, fall in love and eventually marry. All of her novels seem to end in weddings 😀. I’m not sure if a follow-up film of the married couple would be anything near as romantic. Perhaps Lizzie’s parents give you a hint of what they’ll be like after a few years. 😀.
We make much of romance in Western culture. Think of all the love songs that we grew up with. The Bible doesn’t seem to focus much on that type of romance. Still, it’s brought me a lot of joy as well as misery. And even the misery was a magical misery 😀. But when Jesus was asked about marriage in heaven, he said there isn’t any. I think that what we’ll experience then will be infinitely better than anything we experience down here.
For me, music, more than anything else, evokes romantic feelings. Just for fun, I’ll list 15 songs from 15 years of my youth, up to when I got married. Then I’ll add a couple of hymns about the deeper love of Christ.
| 1973 | Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree | Dawn |
| 1974 | The Most Beautiful Girl | Charlie Rich |
| 1975 | I’m Not In Love | 10cc |
| 1976 | Silly Love Songs | Wings |
| 1977 | Silver Lady | David Soul |
| 1978 | Lovely Day | Bill Withers |
| 1979 | Lady Lynda | Beach Boys |
| 1980 | The Winner Takes It All | Abba |
| 1981 | Lately | Stevie Wonder |
| 1982 | A Winter’s Tale | David Essex |
| 1983 | Everyday I Write The Book | Elvis Costello |
| 1984 | Louise | Human League |
| 1985 | Every Time You Go Away | Paul Young |
| 1986 | Absolute Beginners | David Bowie |
| 1987 | Shattered Dreams | Johnny Hates Jazz |
| 1988 | Groovy Kind of Love | Phil Collins |
I didn’t spend much time choosing these, but when I look at the list, many of them are quite sad. As with romantic films, much of the magical feelings relate to longing for something that you can’t have, might not get, or might have lost. Still, I’d hate to have had missed out on such feelings 😀. And all kinds of human relationships bring joy, from marriage and family life to brief chats with strangers.
Anyway, moving onto spiritual matters, here are a few hymns that speak of deeper Christian love, for God or others. And God’s love doesn’t leave you in suspense or diminish or fade over time. Some of the best secular love songs, such as Magic by Olivia Newton John seem to point to something beyond our human experiece. It’s almost as if romance is a taste of something much greater.
Romans 5:8
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
1 Cor 2:9
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
Hibernia Gospel 