Sunday, September 20, 2015

A Sabbath Romance

BLOG
A Sabbath Romance
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Jeff Lampl


 The King and the Maiden  by Soren Kierkegaard  

“Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden. The king was like no other king. Every statesman trembled before his power. No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents.

And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden who lived in a poor village in his kingdom. How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his kingliness tied his hands. If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist—no one dared resist him. But would she love him?

She would say she loved him, of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she be happy at his side? How could he know for sure? If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross the gulf between them. For it is only in love that the unequal can be made equal.

The king, convinced he could not elevate the maiden without crushing her freedom, resolved to descend to her. Clothed as a beggar, he approached her cottage with a worn cloak fluttering loose about him. This was not just a disguise—the king took on a totally new identity—he had renounced his throne to declare his love and to win hers.  

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature[a] God,
    
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature[b
] of a servant,
    
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    
he humbled himself
    
by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.   Philippians 2:5-11  

Today, the Sabbath, would be a great day for you and your family to read Kierkegaard’s parable, then the hymn in Philippians, and ponder what it means to you today and what it means for you as you enter your week tomorrow morning.  

Comment    

For more:   follow on Twitter @jefflampl  

No comments:

Post a Comment