Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
What Should the Christian view of Romance be?
The Bible covers two types of love: agape and phileo. Agape love is represented by God's love for us. It is a non-partial, sacrificial love best demonstrated by the gift in John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." This kind of love is unconditional. The "Love Chapter" in 1 Corinthians deals more explicitly with this. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a). This passage is often quoted at weddings and other celebrations of love.
Agape is a connection through the spirit. A true manifestation of this requires a relationship with Christ. For without Him, agape love isn't exhibited in its truest form. We, as humans, can't reach this level alone. We need our Heavenly Father's Spirit in us, working through us. "The Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). Only through that Spirit can we reach this goal.
The other kind of love, phileo, is considered "brotherly love." It is usually based upon how others treat us and our feelings in any given situation. It involves direct interaction and sometimes comes with a price tag of expectation, wanting something back in return. It's a demonstrative form of love offered through the soul. But, it's also a command from God. "Let us love one another, because love comes from God" (1 John 4:7).
Love is the attribute of God that means the most to us. If God didn't love us, whom He created, He would have traded us in for a better model long ago. Despite our many failures, God keeps working with us (Romans 5:8). Time and time again, despite His patience being tested, He demonstrates that love for His people. He only banned Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. He didn't take their lives. He spared the world because He found one man of upright faith in Noah. He rescued Lot from Sodom before destroying that city. He made Abraham the father of many nations and blessed him with his long-awaited son, despite Abraham's impatience when he fathered a son through his wife's servant.
In the same way God shows His love for us, He expects us to love Him totally and to show love toward each other. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27). Jesus spoke these words when the Pharisees questioned Him about the greatest commandment of God. Although they tried to trick Him, Jesus didn't change the law; He fulfilled it. His sayings about love were not new. The emphasis was merely changed.
The relationships in our lives will either be governed by agape or phileo love. When thinking in terms of romance, we allow the manifestation of that agape love to pour out from our hearts. As a result, we are eager to do everything we can to please the other person and make that person happy. In a love relationship between a man and a woman, the romance is the physical evidence of the love that exists. When that relationship progresses to marriage, the love built between the man and woman only grows deeper as the bond is made stronger through the intimate union of body and soul. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). Biblical love elevates the husband's affections for his wife to the point of loving his wife "as his own body." It also instructs wives to submit to their husbands as the head of the household (Eph. 5:25-29). But submission doesn't mean subservience. On the contrary, when true agape love is manifested in the marriage, the two will act as one, and both will love the other as they love themselves. The tenderness and romance will come out of that love.
By far, the best book in the Bible on this romantic and agape type of love is the Song of Solomon. An oft-quoted and many times favorite of romantics, this book demonstrates the parallel between the agape love Christ has for His church and the deep, abiding love a husband has for his bride. The lover and beloved exchange dialogue with each other, and the beloved speaks with her friends. Every passage attests to the deep and abiding love between the lover and beloved. The two are so consumed with that love that it fills them and gives them strength to face each new day. They find comfort and solace in each others arms and are incomplete without each other. Being together excites them, and when they're apart, they anticipate their reunion.
But, above everything else that is demonstrated in God's Word, it's important to keep in mind that love/romance is an action. It's not passive, and it's not a feeling. It's a verb. It requires you to do something in order to bring it to pass. It also requires that you put the other person's wants and desires above your own. Whenever you need a reminder, go back and read 1 Corinthians 13. And remember, you don't have to do it alone. God's Spirit will work through you. All you have to do is ask.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Are the eyes windows to passion?
eyes..I have to see them" were shared, with great anticipation. Those words also reflected my own sentiments. The lady would then say something like "I want to see if you're real." Again..I was feeling the same thing.
Why settle for something counterfeit?
True passion can not be denied. Romance can be imitated for a while but passion is either there or it isn't. That special "something" that is missing many times and you're not exactly sure what it is, is usually passion. Life lived from the heart is the only place to sustain passion. Our circumstances in life change and we change but, truth does not change. If it is really passion...you'll know it. If not...you'll know it also. Just keep looking into each others eyes long enough...I think you'll find out exactly what you need to know.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sending romance and passion from Peru!
Romance and Passion were not born in any one country or culture. They were not incorporated into any sort of mysterious "melting pot" to become more preferred, specialized or epitomized. No exact definition can be claimed by anyone to be the perfect example.
Romance and Passion transcend time, geography, definition, country, culture, language, history and many obstacles in order to declare themselves very special to all who experience them, in the purest way and to those who observe what they know to be what they are looking for, even if they do not possess it. We know what romance and passion are.. no matter where we find it.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Leave the World Behind
TRUE ROMANCE AND PASSION ARE
a complete abandonment of forms, rituals and traditions that we feel are expected. So many times we think love should look a certain way to be love. We approach romance and passion the same way.
Others tell us what "they" felt like or what
"they" thought or believed they experienced
when they stumbled into passion. I beg
to differ. Romance and passion are painted
with a completely different brush on a
completely different canvas for each of us.
Roses, candles, soft music, wine, champagne,
caviar, or chocolates by themselves...have
nothing to do with romance and passion.It is
not about and occasion, a moment or a brief
period of time. Romance and passion are the
breaths we take along the journey we decide to
take that is the road less traveled for most.
Only those who surrender their worthless and
disappointing ideas will ever discover the
priceless and precious power that they truly
hunger and thirst for in life.
David Hammock. Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
I've been Waiting for you.
I've been waiting for you my whole life.
You don't have to sneak up on me baby.
Deep inside I knew it was you. As soon
as I saw you coming towards me, my heart
began to beat faster and faster and I told
myself.."Yes..that's the man of my dreams.
So many times I have thought about you,
wondered about you, and cried myself to sleep hoping the man of my dreams would appear and I would recognize him. Now..I know that I can tell those who thought I was delusional that you were worth the wait. Let the journey begin baby...yes..I'm all yours and you are mine."
Friday, August 12, 2011
A sad love song - Dandelion's Promise
He was communicating with her ACROSS TIME..... she was from the past....he was from the future....when she carved the words on the table, he was able to read it because he was in the future....but when he replied, she could not read it, because she was in the past..... This is a love story between a girl in the past and the guy at the present time..... they first met when she crossed over to the future for a while....
Thursday, August 11, 2011
I Can Kiss You
I can kiss you with my lips and never taste the sweetness
and delicacy of your loveliness,
if I hide behind my mask,
or if you will not let me see your true beauty.
I can kiss you with my eyes
and you may see the lure you hold for
my heart, but you may never know
what I feel in my heart for you.
I can kiss you with the enchanting aroma of romance,
but how will you know it to be more than just a counterfeit?
I can kiss you with the kindness
of passionate words,
yet how will you know my words are meant
for you, and for you alone?
I can kiss you with the generosity of a man
who could buy the world for you;
but how would you know
I would want you
just for who you are,
without you feeling any obligation
to repay me for anything I have freely given?
I tell you now. Yes!
I can kiss you.
But…if that which you call passion,
which lies within you
can not see me,
can not hear me,
can not sense me,
can not touch me,
can not receive me,
you will never know that I can kiss you.
That moment in time can never be replaced.
So yes…one more time,
I can kiss you,
But… only if you know what it means to be kissed.
Copyright © 2007. David Hammock. All Rights Reserved.
I remember that unforgettable moment, when I stumbled across your photograph on the internet that the very characteristic about your profile which captured me was your eyes. Of course….who wouldn’t be drawn into the lure of their mystery, their wonder, their gentleness, their rest, their purity, their questioning of the world surrounding them? All I know is that I always find rest, assurance and an enormous wellspring of comfort from your image. Now.… I find even more comfort since I have heard the strength of your voice and can see the person behind the voice, even if from a distance. Now when I hear your voice, I can see your beautiful face and never seem to be able to keep from resisting you. This is a dilemma I still ponder. Although not a real dilemma, at least one man named “David” does not yet know what he does not know about a girl that he wants to know. He really asks, “Does she ever wonder such things about me? I shall not tell her,” he says.
It has been quite sometime since that very first day. I have been amazed, challenged, intrigued, and still… I don’t know what many things “I was” and “I am” today because you just walked into my life as someone who cared deeply and I never mentioned what I thought, needed or even wanted. You just knew. Remaining baffled is where I always find myself after we embrace. You always keep me interested and not bored. That’s a first for me. Sometimes you scare me and I don’t know why. Your departure arouses a little loneliness but also hope. You have committed yourself unconditionally and unselfishly to be here for me and….I feel I give so little. I wonder how you continue to be here for me and then…I keep looking into your eyes and I know you.
I know more of your secrets than you tell me. I also know less than you tell me. Being soothed and comforted by all that you tell me is what I always know will be certain. It always is. You never fail me. Each time we see each other, I just look into your eyes…I know that what we have others don’t have. Each time I look in your eyes, I know that what you bring me is mine. Each time I look in your eyes all I can become is content. No matter what you bring, it is always special; it is always meant for me. And...if I ever doubt what I will experience, all I have to do is just keep looking into your eyes. They will tell me… all I ever will want to know.
*Dedicated to two extraordinary ladies who have mastered the gift of unselfishness. I love you both, very dearly.
David Hammock. Copyright © 2011. All Right Reserved,
That Which is most Precious is Love
Does anyone really know what love looks like? What is the face of love?
What does it mean to feel the feelings of love? What are the true thoughts
of love? What are the joys of love? What are the tears of love? I don't know
that anyone has exact answers for these questions. The answers are
different for each of us...just like the feelings, thoughts, joys and tears.
Each man and each woman, the world over wants to love and be loved. But...
many never find it. Some live their lives in disillusionment, disappointment
and compromise. A few dare to feel something greater than today. The
serious ponder possibilities further than the steps they walk
today. Some can hardly imagine that anything will be better today or
tomorrow because of yesterday. Having to suffer in silence or suffer aloud
is the plot of many who remain sad.
I have never been able, despite the challenge and pain of life's obstacles to
accept that the best is forbidden to me for any reason. As long as there is life,
there is hope. I know life is love and love is life. So... I will continue to believe
that dreams were always meant to be realities and that real love belongs to
all of us if we will surrender all that is worthless that we may discover the truly
priceless. AND....that can only be LOVE... indeed that which is most precious.
David Hammock. Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Private Diary Glimpses....Part One
When I am away from you, I long to see your face and have those beautiful, brown, sexy eyes look into my soul. When you take your hands and run your fingers through my hair, I remember dreaming many years ago about a lady in the future doing that to me. You are the only woman to ever do that in all my life. I long to hold your hands. I love to take my hand and brush it gently across your soft cheeks. I want you to make your home one day in my soul. Not just in my mind and emotions but, deep, deep within me. I want to be so close...like no man has ever been close to another woman. I'm willing to pay the price to do that and I'm sure God will lead the way. Hopefully, I will hear the words one day, "David, I belong to you," I will then know it is time to move forward towards a permanent relationship.
David Hammock. 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
"Come Home My Romance.....Come Home"
Where has my romance gone? I long for your sweetness and song to come to me, where you will find your home,and where we can belong.
I long for the fragrance of your words, and the freshness of your breath….fill me...with passion, fire, and intrigue. I am not the same without you.Not the same....no, not the same. Not at all.
For my enchantment has weakened, But it has not died. My heart seems silent, yet I know it is filled with much to say.
My vigor seems subdued, But I know it is only quiet...resting...waiting...waiting....hoping.
I long for the delicate touch of your gentleness, and to swiftly take my fingertips and feel the naturalness of your soul's blush.
I will know when you have arrived, my romance. I will see it in the light of your eyes, and in the whisking of your hair, and in the tenderness of your spirit.
Come to me my romance. For I have a promise that all of my hopes, and dreams will come true.Come to me. I await your homecoming.Not all will be fortunate to find you. Not all will really want you.
May God help me to be patient for you. You will be worth my wait.
Please...come home to me. My dear romance.....come home.
Copyright © 2003. David Hammock. All Rights Reserved.
I Want to See You
I want to look into your eyes and see you. I want to behold nothing or no one else but you. I want you to be present with no one else but me either. For unless we are both truly looking upon one another with the purest of intentions, we may as well be blind. You can not see someone unless you want to. One’s vision is clouded with misconceptions about others unless the heart truly desires to see with its own eyes.
Why do some people live blindly, while others are fully aware of what they think and feel, as well as need and want? Why do some look upon another and say, “You are beautiful,” when beneath the adornment of the visible lies the darkness of the invisible? Some do not want to see, because their eyes have not been opened. Some have not learned to see, because no one ever cared. Some will never see because they have become entangled in a self-designed web of pride, greed, arrogance, superiority, apathy, indifference and selfishness. Indeed the gift of sight allows us the gift of seeing the creative genius before us. If we can not see the masterful beauty which lies within, then our world suffers the loss of the genuineness we have to offer.
To see you, is to begin to discover the wonder of all you are, and have been and are becoming. To not see you is an even greater tragedy than my loss. No matter where you’ve been, no matter where you are, no matter where your journey leads you, let me see you. I must see you. I am compelled to open my hands and hold all that is dear, precious and remarkable about you. But…I can not do that unless we begin to take those first steps together by knowing who you are and you knowing me. I can know nothing though unless you open my blinded eyes.
The ache of my heart would be ever so great if the loveliness I perceive is not there. The yearning of my soul would mourn the loss of my fallen hopes, if it discovered that what I saw was not the real you. Do you see the real you? Only the real you need be experienced. No one can ever take the truth of what is to be seen away from us. If we allow someone to still our sight, then no one else can see us and we will remain blind until we reclaim the inheritance of our individuality. I want to see you…and only you.
Copyright © 2007. David Hammock. All Rights Reserved.
The Wonder of My Soul Mate
I’ve wondered my whole life, what sort of woman would be the woman of my dreams.... I’ve longed for her even when I did not know what the ache in my heart was about. I’ve dreamed of her even when it seemed foolish and hopeless to dream. Wondering if she is a fantasy caused me to ask, are you being honest and real with yourself? I see so many couples hold hands in the park, and they stroll in the evening sunset, and seem so content…..but I still wonder, where is she? I can not give up hope, because as long as there is life, there is hope.
Recalling the memories of my childhood when I saw so many” bigger” people who were married, I remember the sadness I felt inside when they never smiled at one another. Some seemed to act as though they were strangers. There was nothing that seemed to appeal to me about what “bigger’ people did to call themselves husbands and wives. No one ever used the words” lover,” as they shared about their partner. God forbid such a word as that. Yet…..my heart kept yearning…. and bleeding, crying out for someone to tell me the reality and truth about what it meant to be in love. Surely, there must be an answer. Surely, I was not alone.
Soon, I became older and I was to discover that women were different than men. My eyes would gaze upon them and wonder what they were like? How did they feel? What made them happy and smile and laugh I asked? Could they feel as deeply, and as passionately, and long for another that could complete them, as I wondered? I dared not share such a secret! No child should be thinking this way. I should be thinking more like a child. But…I didn’t. I was far beyond my years in a land of discovery, wonder, beauty and enchantment.
I continued to wonder and dream of such a creature extraordinaire that totally captivated the essence of who I was and am. She was the kind of masterpiece that no ordinary artist could easily capture with a brush and paint. She could move my heart like no other. Her delicacy, gentleness and tenderness could calm any feeling of discomfort I would ever have. Her beauty was such, that even a glance…would change me into a prince; for I knew when I beheld her with my eyes, that she was a princess. She was my princess, and I could not possibly be content with any other.
I knew deep inside when I met her, I would feel the presence of her heart. I knew that when she spoke, the gift of her voice would be so warm, passionate, exciting, and true….true to her own heart, and to mine. Whatever she would speak and no matter how she spoke it, the words of my princess would be for me, and my words would be for her. I knew that the very sight of her would change my countenance, lure my will, and beckon me to her side. My desire for her would be unquenchable, and her desire for me the same.
No love would be able to compare to the love we would share. It would radiate from our hearts as we would look upon one another. There would be no more questions. There would be no more aches. My quest for my soul mate will have come true. She would be more than anyone else’s description of her, and more than I could utter with such tiny expressions called words. The glow in her eyes for me, and my eyes for her would tell the story. We would always be able to love in silence, love in language, love in the deepest passion possible with our embrace, as a true gift that would never be able to say” I love you for the moment.” She would always be my soul mate and only with her would my heart always be content.
Copyright © 2007. David Hammock. All Rights Reserved.