What Happens When the Trappings of Love are Lost?

Cook County News Herald  THE GOOD NEWS for 5/21/2010

Le Ponts des Arts. The name sort of rolls from the tongue. It shouts, "Paris! Paris!," in quiet tones that whisper of love and romance and starlit moments when lovers caress one another with longing eyes and unspoken words.

At least, it used to. The Ponts des Arts is a seven arch iron bridge that spans the river Seine in the heart of Paris, France. The original bridge, the first metal bridge in Paris, was constructed between 1802 and 1804. It links the Institut de France with the central court of the Louvre. For years however, it was the scene of far more personal, and perhaps more beautiful connections.

Until last Wednesday, the Ponts des Arts was a favorite place for lovers to proclaim their lasting devotion to one another. Couples would come and stroll the famous pedestrian bridge and bring along a padlock and keys. That's right, a padlock. Some were very handsome locks. Others, not so much. Some were inscribed with names and dates and proclamations. Others bore decorations and symbols. Still others, small and silver or brass, glowed in their simplicity.

These love-struck couples would stroll by the iron mesh of the guardrails and fasten their padlocks to the rails, then toss their keys into the river to symbolize their eternal love. Yeah. I know. That's really sweet. Very romantic. So French. So Paris.

But apparently, not everyone in Paris thinks so. Sometime before morning last Wednesday, they all disappeared. All the locks are gone. All the trappings of undying love have vanished. Poof! Gone. According to the town hall in Paris, in an effort to preserve the 19th century bridge, pragmatism displaced romance.

What happens when the trappings of love disappear? What happens when the warm fuzzy fades, when the moonlit glow gives way to the full reality of the daytime sun? What happens when the whispers of love give way to the cries of infants, the demands of careers, the wail of alarm clocks, and the general cacophony of life? Does love die when a relationship no longer bears the original decorations?

Love never dies, but is has been known to succumb to less noble choices. More than it is anything else, love is a choice. The padlocks represented choices. The keys represented choices. The inscriptions represented choices. The choice of love is the choice to put the interest of another ahead of one's own interests, no matter what. The padlocks and keys, the trappings of love, expressed love, but they were not love. Their disappearance is sad, but it does not signal the end of love for those who maintain their commitments. You can lose the decorations and still maintain the choice. The trappings of love can vanish but love remains. How can this be? Because love is a choice.

God chooses to love us. He chooses to seek our best interest no matter what. He chooses to forgive and restore us even when it costs him the life of his dearly beloved Son. Jesus chooses to die for us. He chooses to lay down his life on our behalf. And what is that choice, the choice of our benefit at even the most precious price? Love!

The padlocks are gone, but the love is not. Sometimes we think blessings are love, and when the blessing turns to sorrow, we think love has left. It has not. Sometime we think joy and peace and ease and wealth and luxury are love, and when we are in turmoil and sad and troubled and barely getting by, we think we are abandoned by love. We are not. Sometimes we think that when our life experience is good and pleasant God loves us, but when life is painful and uncomfortable God hates us (or has lost interest in us altogether.) Not true.

God made a choice. It is a choice he continues to make, to love, to seek the very best interest of those he created. He continues to apply the justifying blood of his Son to the soul of all who believe in him. That is the "no matter what" love that you can experience through faith in Jesus Christ.

That's the Good News.