romance gives an inkling of heaven

the following is text taken from Forgotten Among the Lilies, Ronald Rolheiser and, in particular, the chapter noted above.

There's too much of everything
books, stars, flowers.
How can one flower be precious
in a bed of thousands?
How can a book count
in a library of millions?
The universe is a junkyard
burnt out meteors, busted up stars
planetary cast offs, throwaway galaxies
born and buried in an instant
repeating, repeating
Yet something remains
the dream of fewness
one woman, one man.

~~ J.S. Porter.

...The dream of fewness comes from our wildest longings and is an ache for a great love. As such, whatever its dysfunctions, it is God's lure pulling us toward our real aim, glory... (Rolheiser)

In speaking of this desire...I feel a certain shyness. I am almost committing an indecency. I am trying to rip open the inconsolable secret in each one of you -- the secret which hurts so much that you take revenge on it by calling it names like nostalgia and romanticism and adolescence, the secret also which pierces with such sweetness that, when, in very intimate conversation, the mention of it becomes imminent, we grow awkward and affect to laugh at ourselves, the secret we cannot hide and cannot tell.

~~ C.S. Lewis

Photographer: Juan Silva