’Tis the season of Municipal elections, Tory
conventions and Senate scandals. The history of politics is a sordid tale: of
the power hungry manipulating privilege for personal benefit; of dictators
forcing rule over exploited people; of tyrants extending influence by war and conquest
Yet there may be more of a common thread to
both politics and our favourite love stories like Cinderella than it appears. “Once
upon a time . . . happily ever after,” lurks in those tales and books like
Utopia, reflecting a perfection of love and life that our hearts yearn for and
our best experiences imply.
Political theorist John von Heyking’s book title,
Augustine and Politics as Longing in the
World, evokes a sense that, despite its excesses, even politics arises from
the notion that there is an ideal to strive for beyond the ravages of earthly
life—a thirsty longing that wrenches our hearts but is never fully satisfied.
I’m sure most politicians start off with a
desire to improve community life, but undermine their good intentions by the
subterfuge, manipulation and compromise that political ambition seems to
require. So as men envision the ideal society and strive for it, maidens also dream
of perfect love.
But if we could read the rest of the story of
Cinderella and her prince, we might find a degeneration of their love into
self-serving manipulation. But neither evidences of fallen partners or politicians
should blind us to the desire God has placed in our hearts for the perfection only
found in Him.
Pascal wrote: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man
which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made
known through Jesus.” If God can
complete the yearning of the human soul, then He is also the source of a satisfying
and enduring marriage.
