Life and love are tragic, say many. Shakespeare and Schopenhauer were some of them. So, what do delights have to do with that?
Simply speaking, humans are deserving of God’s love. Therein lie a lot of delights. By living for the sake of others, we fulfill our God-given duties and will find eternal peace and happiness.
Say that again?
Farmer, you have obviously tried that, but you do not look happy. Even I can see that. What could be the matter?
We’ve been responsible all of our lives. Never done something wrong, never will. You can count on that. We read the Bible and do not complain like Job. We drive to church on Sundays, and God is blessing us every year with a bountiful harvest. Our five children are grown up and have since left the farm. Some have married, one is divorced and trying to make a new start. We care for all of them.
Oh, I probably should go back to Georgia to mingle with my fellow peanuts. Georgia is where we all grow up.
Wait, you already put your foot in the door now, or in your mouth – whatever. Are you not curious?
Curious? Yes, generally speaking. Always ready to discover the delights of life. But, eh, I am not a psychoanalyst like Freud or Jung or Lacan. Look, it’s late and I better get going…
Have a seat, please. Right here.
There we go. Some coffee or tea?
So, what’s your secret?
How can I tell?
How did the two of you find each other?
We both grew up in a small town, away from the hustle and bustle of the new world. There weren’t many singles to go around. Her mother was looking at me and thought that I looked handsome. Soon our parents spoke with the pastor and one word gave way to another and before one knew it they all suggested that we spent some time right after church to get to know each other.
Oh, how romantic.
Well, yes. I did look handsome then. I had never spoken much with the other girls in school, and my dad then told me that I would get the farm one day.
I see. What about your wife?
She cooks. I could not run the farm without her. There’s too much to do with the laundry, shopping for groceries, and cleaning and all. I do the fixing when the roof leaks.
No, I mean, did she think you were handsome as well?
Why don’t you ask her, she can speak for herself.
I thought that he was handsome.
Why then did you want to leave the farm and move into a big town? You have nagged me all my life to move off the land. Malls, theatres, Internet, what the heck?
Look, I stayed.
You are lucky to have me. The farm is in good shape, thanks to God.
Does she like Shakespeare’s plays?
It doesn’t matter, I am convinced that there is better entertainment around. We’ll get satellite Internet next year, so we can watch the Des Moines news channel and stay on top of the elections.
How delightful. I just wonder, I mean, how about the passions between the two of you?
What? Passions are for the birds and bees. I have a farm to run and vote every year for the Republicans.
Well, if I may say, when my mother told me about him, I was thinking like okay, perhaps we will come to love each other. But love does not come easy, you know. I think that we married out of courtesy. (Crying…)
Oh, come on now and stop crying. We talked about that already last year. We live a good life here on the farm. It is what it is now. I know that you do not dream about me, but look at our children. They are all out there, fending for themselves and doing well enough. We’ll have grandchildren coming to visit us next Christmas.
Ops, it really late now. I must be going or I’ll miss my train.
And so endeth the play…
Well, don’t get stuck!
The author of this blog, Tom Froehlich, is a graduate of the Unification Theological Seminary (Class of ’83) and is infatuated with musing about the phenomenon of lasting erotic love in human affairs.
