Romance is perhaps not a word we often use for our relationship with God. Certainly, there is a more superficial interpretation of romance, as something purely emotional, short-lived and apt to change based on preferences, that is unfitting for our relationship with God. But, a more meaningful take on the word romance that suggests a strong pull towards another, compelling an ever-greater self-disclosure to the other, with an ultimate end of total self-gift towards the other. Taken this way, romance seems an entirely appropriate word for the interplay between God and the soul. Indeed, the language used in scripture to describe God's pursuit of the soul is often anything but clinical. The prophet Hosea speaks of God "alluring" God's people (2:16), and Song of Songs is awash with carnal language expressing desire God and his beloved. Ephesians 5:25 describes Christ as “giving himself up for” the church, and The Austrian Beguine and mystic Agnes Blannbekin (c. 1244 – 1315) described her experience of the eucharist in such erotic language that to reprint her words here might feel inappropriate for a parish bulletin… and yet this is the depth and intensity of relationship with God to which we are all called, the kind of connection to which Jesus, the eucharist, and every aspect of our faith point! Contemplative practices are a way of inviting and gradually entering into this type of intimacy, allowing God to gently, tenderly do away with all the outer layers we use to cover our souls and enter into an incredible romance!
Submitted by Andy Dapron