Beauty & the Beast

Beauty and the Beast is a great story! But this is not my take on the Royal Wedding!
Betty & I went to see the local production of Beauty & the Best this week. There were some impressive performances, a very professional production, and two of our young people doing very well in the company.
But it was the story which grabbed me. The Beast is paying for his selfish treatment of an elderly woman, who has cursed him and all his staff. He can only be rescued from his (deserved?!) fate by the love of a woman if he learns to love in return. And in spite of everything, the love and commitment of Beauty wins out, and he is restored.
Now many of you will have other comments on this story - do add them on the Blog page (available through the Church website!)
What struck me so clearly was the way that so many such stories and fables - I think of Richard Wagner's opera, The Flying Dutchman - have this theme. Someone is redeemed and rescued from their fate by the sacrificing love of the hero. Or as another show has it, Love Changes Everything.
St. Paul knew that too! 'It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' (Galatians 2.20).
St. John also knew this truth. 'God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4.9-10)
And the most famous verse in the Bible tells this loud and clear - our beast has been met by the beauty of His love. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.' (John 3.16)
Today, I want to thank the Lord for His love for me, and commit myself again to living for him. That alone will deal with all that is 'Beastly' within my life and character. Will you do that too?
Best wishes,
Richard