Theologian Paul Tillich used to point out to his students that all of us in the modern age are children of Nominalism. That is, we tend to believe that universals exist in name only and have no true reality. Unfortunately, we act as though only individual things exist. In the context of romantic love, we think that both we and our partner are simply individuals who fall in love, with nothing Greater indwelling each of us or circulating between us.
By contrast, a spiritual perspective always looks to see how individual things are grounded in something deeper and more Universal. In the case of eros, the sacred feminine (the Goddess) underlies one partner, and the sacred masculine (God) underlies the other partner. When we approach relationship in this way, we realize that each of us is a window through to a deeper, vaster Reality, and that each of us therefore is chock-full of MYSTERY. When we view one another as a sacred mystery, relationship takes on a quality of freshness and newness.
However, each partner cannot expect their beloved to find that mystery automatically. Indeed, it is often the case that each person falls into a rut, responding like a rote machine to any given situation. To counteract this tendency, it is the responsibility of each partner continually to grow BEYOND the constricted boundaries of our past patterns and habits, and truly to incarnate something NEW of the Divine, thereby making us more attractive to our beloved, and to all of the other people whom we encounter in the course of an ordinary day. Are we up to the task?
Photo: The "face" of Arthur's Rock appears through a screen of falling snow; Lory State Park, CO; February 9, 2013
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