When erotic love is stationed above all other moral values, it tyrannizes the lives of those in its grip. And interestingly, he doesn’t warn of the dangers of idolizing a romantic partner, but rather the idolatry of romance itself: “The real danger seems to me not that the lovers will idolize each other but that they will idolize Eros himself” (emphasis mine). He doesn’t condemn sexuality or the body, as some mistaken Christians have. He affirms eros as a good aspect of God’s design, in the context of a marriage between a man and a woman. Lewis writes about this in The Four Loves. When erotic love is stationed above all other moral values, it tyrannizes the lives of those in its grip.Ĭ. We also hear that feelings and emotions should be the preeminent indicators of having found that fabled “soul mate.” But suppose feeling isn’t enough? Or worse-suppose we fall in love with feelings instead of with the actual person? Whether in Bachelor-style dating shows or Netflix rom-coms, romantic love ( eros) is exalted to a place of spiritual transcendence in our secular age. Through pop culture of every sort, we constantly hear the message that the “one” romantic partner has the potential to fulfill our every emotional need-to “complete us” and quench the desires of our soul-at least for the moment. It’s asking the human to satisfy in a way only God can.Ĭoldplay is not alone in the quest to view romantic love as a means to spiritual fulfillment and self-realization. It’s seeking cosmic fulfillment in terrestrial romance. I’m not against love songs, but this grandiose view of erotic love-as somehow divine, salvific, and all-encompassing-promises more than it can deliver. What might have been a meditation on an actual ‘higher power’ ends up just being about a girl. Eros is a human form of love that, if not redeemed by agape, becomes a terrible, taking god. In the Christian tradition, agape is the highest form of love because it characterizes Christ’s self-sacrificial act on the cross on behalf of humanity, and is at the heart of who God is-a Trinity of persons who are always giving. Put in more Christian terms, what might have been an emotionally honest album about agape ends up being yet another one about eros. What might have been a meditation on an actual “higher power” ends up just being about a girl. But it confirmed my fears about the album. The song’s “higher power” is simply a romantic partner, who elevates the singer from his despondency and invites him into a celebration of life. Yet Coldplay’s first single for the album, “ Higher Power” (a title brimming with potential spiritual meaning!), quickly revealed the disappointing scope of the project. I was hoping for an album with a similar posture-seeing in the things of earth signs of transcendence beyond an album with grand explorations of the big questions of life-time, death, love, and God. My thoughts turned toward the glorious spheres of Paradise where Dante realizes his affection for Beatrice, his earthly beloved, is simply a subsidiary of divine love intended to bring him into communion with the Trinity. When I first listened to the album, I’d just read Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Advertise on TGC Seeking ‘Higher’ Power in Lower Loves
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