In Praise of Romance Novels
(I wrote this originally for Rory Shiner's blog, then I suddenly realised, "Hey, I've got my own blog! I can put it on there!" So here it is.)
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Pride and Prejudice, Anne of Green Gables, Anna Karenina (even though I've only read 180 pages so far), A Tale of Two Cities...
How can anyone read books like these and not experience a sense of delight??
There’s nothing quite like curling up in front of the fire on a cold winter’s day, with a steaming mug of hot chocolate in one hand and a good romance novel in the other. It’s the perfect way to transport oneself out of the greyness and clutter of daily life, into a world of witty dialogue, intriguing characterisation, heart-stopping tragedy, beautiful settings, and – most importantly – awe-inspiring romance.
What more could you want?
One of the best romance novels I’ve ever read is Redeeming Love - a modernised embellishment of the story of Hosea, written by Francine Rivers.
In short, God tells a man to marry a harlot. She, having been abused, hardened and scarred seemingly beyond repair, finds it impossible to accept that this man truly loves her, or to even understand what love is. She keeps running and he keeps bringing her back, until... well, that would ruin the story, wouldn’t it!
Apart from being a ripping yarn, the book shed a lot of light for me on the Great Romance between Christ and His Bride...
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us." (1 Jn 3:16)
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." (Matt 23:37, emphasis mine)
How often we shun His love, because we can’t understand it and we want to stay in control of our broken lives. And how desperately we need His patient, unfailing, redemptive love to bring us back to Himself and make us whole.
What more could we want?
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"The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with His love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."
Zephaniah 3:17
posted by deborah @ 1:47 PM
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