Cathleen Falsani, author of " The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers" , in a recent Sojourners article, related her attempt at a reading at a friend's wedding. After much thought she chose excerpts from Tom Robbins' " Still Life with a Woodpecker" which featured an exchange of letters between an environmental princess named Leigh-Cheri and a tequila-swilling outlaw called Bernard:
"The most important thing is love," said Leigh-Cheri. "I know that now. There's no point in saving the world if it means losing the moon... I'm not quite 20, but thanks to you, I've learned something that many women never learn: Prince Charming really is a toad. And the Beautiful Princess has halitosis. The bottom line is that a) people are never perfect, but love can be. b) that is the only way that the vile and the mediocre can be transformed , and c) doing that makes it that. Loving makes love. Loving makes itself. We waste time looking for the perfect lover instead of creating the perfect love."
Bernard's letter, via his attorney, arrived shortly.
"Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honour and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question, The words, "make" and "stay" become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free."
So here's a mix of realism, a love's bad breath, mixed with a degree of idealism which must be part of any new venture, or we'd never set out. If we were to write or borrow some lines to declare our love for a new love or a mature love, how would it have grown, evolved since you first met?
Peter
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