The predictable and yet unpredictable love story.
I wont always be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for the predictable romantic comedy movies. Case in point I stayed up three hours past my normal bedtime last night to watch one. I don’t even know the name of it. In the movie the lead girl Georgia was a popular girl in high school, pretty, fun, head of the cheer squad, and very nice. She dated the football jock Craig, but her best friend was an artsy nerd guy named Ben. She grew up and though she had been voted most likely to succeed, she was only an assistant to a fashion designer. So she goes home to her high school reunion hoping to reunite with the jock because she thought he was the only good thing she ever had going for her, (she had broken up with him at prom suspecting him of cheating) but as the night progressed and the memories rolled in very slowly she came to realize that it wasn’t the jock, but her faithful art nerd friend who had been the “most amazing man in her life.”
Craig really was the stereotypical jock, good looking, and kind of a brute of a guy, not a lot of depth, and he did in fact cheat on Georgia with her supposedly best friend Tori who is sick with envy over Georgia and tries to sabotage Georgia at the reunion. Ben was always the nice guy, her buddy, he made her laugh and smile, he was always there for her through thick and thin, they had a lot of fun adventures together, he threw himself out there for her, threw his dignity and pride on the line to protect hers and when she broke up with Craig after catching him cheating, Ben was the one there to dance with her at prom and cheer her up again. So at the reunion Ben who is obviously still captivated by Georgia, tries his hardest to pour out his whole honest heart to Georgia about the real admiration, love and affection he has always had for her. However, Craig always walks in at the most inopportune times and steals Georgia away leaving Ben alone and heartbroken.
In the end Georgia is still the popular nice girl though she isn’t financially successful. Tori gets Craig, while Georgia gets the support and love of her classmates. Georgia hurts Ben, almost loses him because he is fed up with having his heart stepped on and at this point I didn’t blame him, but she was still able to come back and ask his forgiveness and the two of them live happily ever after! Okay long synopsis and totally predictable right? but it is relevant to what I really wanted to reflect upon.
So as I watched that movie I found I could relate to Georgia, I wasn’t head of anything, certainly not one of the popular girls in high school, but I was well liked and people tell me its because I was nice. I’ve graduated and I like Georgia don’t feel all that successful either and I feel the pressure from everyone, especially my parents and family, to do something already, to be someone they can be proud of. I’ve thought about my own high school reunion. What if I have the challenge of facing my classmates and catching up and not having a whole lot to say as far as what I’m accomplishing in life. Then my heart poured out for Ben. I just wanted to scream at Georgia, look he’s right here! He supports you, he’s there for you, he doesn’t put you down, he builds you up, he makes you smile and laugh, he truly cares about your heart and its so obvious, why do you keep stepping on his heart with this Craig guy! I thought, gosh I wish I had a Ben, a solid faithful guy friend who loved me for me and had adventures with me and everything, was there to protect me, someone who would love me, looked at me and beheld me as the most amazing girl he knows, who didn’t take me for grant it, who pursued me. Someone who I could love back. I wondered, why have I never had a friend like that?
I began singing the Salve Regina to myself thinking I’d just do that and offer God my thoughts and skip night prayer and go to bed. As I was singing though I forgot the words and had to flip open the prayer book and thought I might as well pray night prayers. Looked and tonight was the night for psalm 16, one of my favorites. “Lord you are my portion and my cup…” I thought gosh how is it that the exact things I need to hear are tonight’s prayer? The everyday questions were running through my head, what are you doing with your life, what is your vocation, could you be married? Could you be consecrated? Etc. etc. etc. I thought about my worries over Christmas gifts, black Friday deals and such has been on my mind, consumerism I’m buying into it apparently. I wondered, where are you going, you didn’t ever care about this stuff before. “Lord you are my portion and my cup…” is He? Or what have I really been filling my cup with? I began to understand.
Was there a “Ben” in my life and I was just not seeing Him like Georgia? Ben, once you got to know his character you knew he was going to come through for Georgia in every little stunt pulled, and treat her with every grace and kindness even when she may not have deserved his attention. He was at the same time unpredictable because you didn’t know how he was going to do it or how beautiful and perfect he’d come through. That was my epiphany. I’m God’s little girl, His girl. He did bless me with that “Ben” in my life, it’s Him. I say that I’ve never had that kind of a friend Ben was but again that’s me being like Georgia, having greatness right there upon her and never even realizing it till later. Ben was like Christ in this movie, and I’m like Georgia, I love Him, but my eyes aren’t always open to that, I’m distracted often by “Craig.” My “Craig” oh there are lots of them, my sins, my earthly desires. Craig is other guys I’ve chased after, he’s the emptiness I found in black Friday shopping, in clothes, in my impatience, in my unfaithfulness. Georgia was so caught up in Craig because he looked good and even made her feel good, but in the end it was empty and all she could think about was Ben. I’m the same. I get caught up in a sin or earthly desire simply because it looks good, and may temporarily feel good and seem good when it isn’t the ultimate good though I may treat it that way. It steals me away at the most inopportune moments and then winds up leaving me hurt and alone and empty just yearning to be rescued.
Christ is that perfect eternal true friend to me. He is both predictable and unpredictable. Predictable in that His mercy is ceaseless, and He unconditionally eternally loves me. He is unpredictable in that I could never guess just how or when or where or what He will do to bless me and give me the graces I need beyond generously. These would be the times I sit there and think wow really, you did this for me!? I think back on my past, my sins, guys I chased, earthly desires. I see me “happy” and infatuated with them, but then these things never satisfied, and at times left me broken and miserable, wounded. Taking a step back and looking at the whole picture I see Christ there too, He’s as Ben was for Georgia. He let go of His dignity, of His very life in order to save ours. He on the cross, and in the Eucharist pours out His entire heart to us. He is there waiting very dependable and saying with every heart beat, I love you, don’t you see that? He has always caught me when I fell, He’s my greatest source of true peace and joy, He has the power to dry my every tear, He continues to call after me no matter what. He treats me with every grace and kindness though I don’t deserve it. Christ of course infinitely surpassing Ben’s humanness never for a moment loses faith in me. Though I’ve hurt Him He is never unfaithful to me, always merciful and desiring to forgive me, all I must do is ask. He pursues me. He beholds me. He loves me. I love Him.
