Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Finding what you are looking for.

I have a confession to make.... I am slightly addicted to 2 dating shows. One is the Bachelorette, and the other is a new show that I have discovered..... Dating in the Dark. They are completly different in scope, in purpose and therefore in content.

Dating in the Dark is based on the question of whether people can 'fall in love' without seeing each others' faces. I use quotations because I think that it would be very difficult to truly fall in love on a reality show. On Dating in the Dark, the people meet in the dark and date in the dark, they get to know one another over a series of dates and then, following the 'big reveal' they have to choose whether or not to meet outside the house. The one twist is that they have all filled out questionnaires and have had experts match them to a specific person. There are choices throughout when they can choose who to 'date'. In the first episode, they all chose to focus primarily on the people that the experts chose, even given the opportunity to see any of the men.

It is interesting to think that the weight of an expert opinion can so greatly sway the impact of an encounter. Is it possible that we see what we are looking for? So often, when searching for someone special it is too easy to see all the reasons NOT to take a risk, to see all the flaws.... and imagine our surprise when we actually find these things....

On the other hand, The Bachelorette is all about what is perfect....until its not. Perfect settings, perfect dates, perfect men, and one imperfect girl.... sounds........... perfect! And yet, time after time, date after date, these men fail to impress, don't live up to the high expectations.

OK.. so what do we do with this? There are easy ties to dating and seeing the good in people, but what if there is a aspect to our relationship with God? I have noticed that of late, I have been having tougher time than I normally do seeing the 'good parts' of God. It is, all about what I have been choosing to see.

I suppose in this case, I am the Bachelorette, "HOPING" to find what I have it in my head that will make me happy in my relationship with God, when what I should be doing, is listening to the 'experts' who tell me how amazing God is and how He loves me! I need to use my head more to remember the truth of God, to focus on "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Phil 4:8

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