About an old country song.

There’s this old country classic called “Standing Outside the Fire” by Garth Brooks, maybe some of you will admit to knowing it, too. As weird as it may seem to say this, I think Lewis and Garth may have written it together if they hadn’t been separated by a few decades. Well, maybe I wouldn’t go quite that far, but there are definitely some similarities in concept. The second verse begins like this:

“We call them strong,

those who can face this world alone,

who seem to get by on their own,

those who will never take the fall.”

Now if you were to look up the rest of the lyrics, you may think that this is just another twang-ridden country love ballad. You can see it that way or you can watch the video and see a whole new meaning. (Hint: the young man in the storyline has Down’s syndrome.)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0kNr8HOCZk)

The point to all this is that we live in a world that often glorifies playing it safe or at least not letting anyone have the power to hurt you. Vulnerability is almost taboo. (Casual sex, anyone?) The strong and ideal individual is independent, self-reliant, and untouchable.

Then along comes this idea of love, especially the form discussed in Lewis’s chapter titled “Charity.” This idea that to be breakable is to be redeemable is so cool to me. From a personal standpoint, I can see the pull of having an unbreakable heart, but I would rather have a broken one than an unredeemable. I feel like people are becoming better and better at putting up walls and elaborate defenses. As Christians, I believe we are called to live counter-culturally, and this can start with the way we love. It’s dangerous, potentially messy, and opens our emotions up to pain and rejection. But if the alternative is “Hell” (121), I’d say the risk is worth it in friendship, charity, eros, and even affection.