To Die For Love

“To die for love, what could be more glorious than that?”

So says Marianne, from Sense and Sensibility.

Books, movies, other media...the sacrifice of one's life for one's only beloved is portrayed as the ultimate decree of true love. “To die for love...”

Hmmm. I think that many times we are caught up in an unrealistic, romanticized view of what love is, or what love should be. Note, I say “we,” putting myself at the top of that list. I myself am a romantic and have imagined a million and one daydreams about a true love – although I must say, I have never imagined the death factor into the equation (near death, of course). Gosh – I would rather live with my love than to have I or he die because of it. That would be a bummer. Which brings me to my next point.

Maybe we have got it a bit backwards.

Romeo and Juliet is good and all, but, I think that it would be more glorious to live for love, than to die for love. Rather than to sacrifice one's body to the point of death, we should sacrifice our bodies to the point of selfless giving. A day-in and day-out kind of love. The kind of love that keeps you together even though you may disagree, or disappoint one another. The kind of love that allows for mistakes and forgiveness. The kind of love that sees you through the difficult times – and pulls you closer to one another because of the experiences that you have passed through together.

I think that is the real glory and passion of love – yes – to sacrifice for love is glorious...as long as one is still around to enjoy the rainbow after the rain.

:)