Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: LEAVE (11/16/23)
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TITLE: Love Does Not Abandon | Previous Challenge Entry
By Barbara Culler
11/22/23 -
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“Take her - forget me - forget all of this. Leave me alone - forget all you have seen.”
One can never forget the heart-rending Broadway stage production and motion picture of The Phantom of the Opera. A line in the entire musical repertoire sums up why the “Angel of Music” is such a miserable person.
Leaping away and ascending a staircase, he bitterly sobs: “Go now! Go now and leave me!”
This man, born with a facial deformity, suffered a life of abuse and rejection. No one cared for him. No one ever loved him. He dwelt alone in the shadowing realms of an old opera house; anger was his tool for surviving.
Hiding behind a mask, he mysteriously mentored — and loved the young upcoming singer, Christine. When his perceived lover met him in person, she thoughtlessly yanked the mask from his face, exposing the disfigurement. And then she rejected him -- not in repulsion of his scars, but because of his anger and hatred.
Realizing that for him, love was hopeless, the phantom sends the love of his life away. The scene ends as the broken man cries that it’s all over. Everything he lived for was gone. It is a tragic story.
Although just a fictional depiction, the viewer feels the emotions this poor man experienced. He was not a monster; he was a human being, and his name was Erik.
Everyone experiences rejection. Some develop anger as a coping mechanism, and others acquire compassion. One such caring man, Jesus Christ, was born for rejection.
It was his mission to take the punishment for our sins. But he did not remain dead. He returned alive. Although he physically left to be with His Father God in Heaven, the Holy Spirit became available — forever to reside with those who call the Lord the love of their life.
As Erik experienced, friends and family — people in general, will reject and abandon us, but our history need not turn us into angry avengers. Hold onto Jesus, for it is through Him we discover what real love is. He will never leave or forsake us.
He promised.
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“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” John 14:15-20 NIV
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John 14 is possibly my favorite Bible verse.
Loved it! Congratulations!