Romance after all

With the weddings and other circumstances and conversations in my life I've continued to ponder... What is Romance after all?
Or perhaps we could ask, 'Is Romance after all?' And answer quite truthfully, 'Yes it is after all, and before all for that matter, and possibly within all and without.' But then we would be asked, 'Surely you're not talking abou the romance that I hear so much about - the romance of Danielle Steele novels and Hollywood's racey sex scenes?' To which we would reply, 'Surely not. The Romance we speak of is something else all together.' 'And what is that?'

It's the beauty of simplicity; hearts sculpted into one heart. It is a bigger view of life - life more colorful and colors more vivid, crisp. It is music sounding sweeter - or sadder. It is breathing deeper and enjoying the air. It is existing and more than exisiting; it is enjoying and more than enjoying. It is embracing laughter, the kind that brings tears to your eyes, and it is embracing tears, the kind that, ultimately, ends in laughter. It is experiencing companionship and knowing it to be sensational. It is appreciating intimacy and recognizing it to be sacred. It is a taste, a hint, a glimpse, a memory of Something. Something divine and right and intended. For those who believe in God it is all the purity and wonder of God's grace. And for those who don't I'm not sure that it's anything less than that anyway. It is something captured and something caught - elusive but tangible, felt. Romance inspires and grips and stirs - it breaks and reforms the heart

Let Romance reign in the hearts of lovers, in the hearts of children, of women and men both old and young. Let Romance be restored (for it is distorted, unrecognized, unrealized) and redeemed - that those within It, experiencing It may restore, redeem.
May eyes wet easier, hilarity overtake more readily. May Love govern all. And through the thin veil of Romance may the Author - Whoever that may be - be seen, be known.