“Here ends my previous existence. Take it: it led me to you.”
—G.K. Chesterton, writing to his fiancée Frances BloggI realize I have been including Chesterton in my posts a lot lately, but I cannot fathom how anyone could blame me. All the books in all the world could not contain his wisdom (though I think he tried to make it so). I’d like to think I have always been somewhat of a faithful disciple of his, but what has especially enthralled me with the Apostle of Common Sense here recently is his deeply poetic albeit darkly humorous insight into the love that exists between a Christian man and woman. This should be taken into consideration when discerning requests for his canonization. We need officially recognized Saints such as these – men and women of God and for God who have found that in this life the best way for them to show the world the love of Christ is to share it with each other. After all, the sacrament of matrimony as exhibited by the Holy Family is the production of an image of the Holy Trinity in which Christ is the center.
Chesterton appears to be the romantic type with a reasonable understanding of women and a childlike faith in magic – the stuff that Disney stories are made of. But in a world where there are princesses and princes, there are bound to be dragons and villains, as well as frogs who require a kiss in order to transform into what they were originally created to be. Against my natural inclinations, I have chosen not to poke fun at the fluffy marketing and secularization of that faithful martyr St. Valentine’s Day this year. Instead, I have decided to be sweet and will leave you with a few lovely Chesterton quotes:
“Marriage is an adventure, like going to war.”“Marriage is a duel to the death which no man of honour should decline.” (Manalive)“I have known many happy marriages, but never a compatible one. The whole aim of marriage is to fight through and survive the instant when incompatibility becomes unquestionable.”
“I have little doubt that when St. George had killed the dragon he was heartily afraid of the princess.” (The Victorian Age in Literature)
There are more awesome quotes out there, but I must go now before my love gets off work and discovers that I have been blogging while she labors on Valentine’s Day…
Eh… I couldn’t resist.
