The Jewler's Shop, Karol Wojtyla

This book came as a recommendation (and a gift) from a good friend on my last birthday.  The Jewler's Shop is a monologue-driven play written by Pope John Paul II back when he was a bishop in Poland.  Its subject is marriage: the three acts present to us three couples, each reflecting on their relationship from different angles and perspectives.  One couple looks at the past and present of their (positive) relationship as they prepare for marriage; the next portrays a couple whose love has faded over the years.  The final act brings the two together, as the (uncertain) children of the marriages from Acts I and II prepare for their wedding.  I found myself reflecting on so many things as I read this.  I am not an aficionado of poetry or theology, or metaphysics for that matter - so I feel like a lot of the words flew over my head.  But the message - I think I got that part, at least a little.

Sometimes human existence seems too short for love.  At other times it is, however, the other way around: human love seems too short in relation to existence - or rather, too trivial.  At any rate, every person has at his disposal an existence and a Love.  The problem is: How to build a sensible structure from it?

At the heart of marriage, as of any relationship, is first complete devotion to God, and a commitment love another, but also to share a deep friendship throughout life.  Marriage is the bedrock of a family, of society; this commitment ensures stability through the roughest days as during the sweetest moments.  It is so much greater, so much grander - and so much more difficult -  than today's society will allow.  And I am always thankful for a reminder, in the midst of a scary, mistrustful world.