Have You?

As the daylight descends into an abyss of darkness, light streams from the horizons of our perception to highlight the most vivid whites in sight. The human emotions feel a loss of warmth, coupled with the expectant danger of a new evening. All of the security in vision is dampened by an impending sense of excitement coming from the new sources of light emerging into the sky. Through the veil of night slowly covering the day, a sole light shines in the distance--a solitary street lamp. Trudging down the path leading to the couldesac, footsteps seem to dance through the air as the perceptive senses are heightened to the sound of silence. The ricochet of each step reverberates through the hammer and anvil of the inner ear, penetrating through cells to reach the consciousness of the human mind. In a soft whisper, the gentle breeze seduces the ears to be compliant to its whimsical pattern of rustle and flow in the leaves. What could be at work in the night air? The crisp scent of winter breath intoxicates to no end and entreats us to stay forever in the comfort of its icy embrace. As the footsteps retreat towards the welcoming warmth of home, the emotions seem to be saddened, for yet another time has past, another exchange of light.

Have you experienced the Dusk?

nate.

Read more...

Simple Beauty.

He who is in love is wise and is becoming wiser, sees newly every time he looks at the object beloved, drawing from it with his eyes and his mind those virtues which it possesses.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Address on The Method of Nature"

Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.
Robert Frost

What is it like to float? To truly be free of gravity is a feeling few, save astronauts, will ever experience. But, somehow, through an incomprehensible combination of rout and circumstance, we find ourselves floating on earth. The power of love is incredible and beyond the laws of physics and the confines of reason; humankind has been awestruck in the presence of its majesty since the beginning of time. In the surreal experience of love, we, all too often, lose the magic that can surface in the simple course of daily life.

Astronauts stare back at Earth, our iridescent globe of life. The majesty of viewing Earth from afar is comparable to none other as the backdrop of twinkling stars lends itself to the natural beauty of the great Mother. Though astronauts experience the incredible power of Earth in its full majesty, it is not the view common man can appreciate. The average man will never transcend the forces of physics to float in space, but he can appreciate the wonders of nature from the ground of dear Mother Earth. From the timeless imagery of nature, it is evident that some of the most beautiful experiences can be found simply in everyday experience. Driving down Pisgah Church into a brilliant sunset can tug at the strings of even the hardest of hearts and awakes something deep within that says, "that is true beauty." In parallel, it is not necessarily the euphoria found in love which reveals the beauty of a woman, but it is the everyday experiences we share with our loved ones where the most magnificent beauty can be found. The person whom we cherish sparkles with brilliance, not always in circumstance, but often in simple, common interaction.

Learning to love is a journey like no other; the highs and lows of a relationship bring wisdom. In these experiences, love lends a tender hand to an uncertain heart by showing how to love more, and more deeply. To experience a relationship like no other, we must seek wisdom, and in that wisdom we will see latent beauty in our beloved. Beauty such as this is only evident in a heart which seeks a mutual love that is fueled by a simple desire to love, and love without restraint. Though we do not love beyond reason, love should be consumated in the common desire for the betterment of each individual. That is: for each to seek the best for the other.

Love is most evident in self-less sacrifice. Loving a woman is not a idealistic stroll through a park, but rather a war, in which a chivalric knight battles through obstacles of insurmountable odds to rescue a beautiful princess from the tower. This story pulls at the heart of boys and girls alike. It is so inherent to your soul because it is truly what your heart desires; every girl wants to be rescued by a knight in shining armor, and every boy wants to be that knight. The catche comes when most "knights" are unwilling to fight for their princess. They do not realize there is a battle to fight, a dragon to be slayed. It is because of the dragon that men must be willing to perservere to reach their beloved, and not give up when a relationship seems to be fallling apart. If lovers can surmount the rocky terrain of conflict, they will find new beauty in their loved one and be able to experience mutual love in a fuller sense.

Humans cannot comprehend true love, for it is most originally divine. The manner in which God loves us is paramount to even the most fufilling love that two humans can experience. If we can truly understand the manner in which he loved us first most deeply, the love we feel for an extraordinary woman will be multiplied ten-fold and can be consumated in the knowledge that there is one who loves us unconditionally and without reason. In that knowledge we can love without restraint and experience the awe-inspiring beauty that is in store for each of us..

nate.

Read more...

Pure Majesty

Love, unconquerable
Waster of rich men, keeper
Of warm lights and all night vigil
In the soft face of a girl:
Sea-wanderer, forest visitor!
Even the pure Immortals cannot escape you
And mortal man, in his one day's dusk,
Trembles before your glory

(Taken from Antigone by Sophocles)

Ancient literature has power. The unseeming majesty of complicated literature can overcome the most unsuspecting individual, simply trying to succeed in a world full of academic rigor. Love is an incredibly entity, who can understand it? Human kind never has and can never fully comprehend the complexities and subtleties of love. From the corrosive properties of lustful desires, to the whimsical features of casual love, the world has shifted from a reverent appreciation of the majesty of the deepest loves, to an irreverant exploitation of the joys found in love. In this small moment of your time spent reading my thoughts alloted in HTML boxes, savor the pure delight of love in its original form (from the brilliance of Sophocles) and see the life that ancient writing brings to ideas that have since grown cold and inert.

-nate

Read more...