History

sleeping beloved

Talia’s Tale

Another king has taken control of Talia’s territory (a residual memory of the shifting political situation in Naples from the 1400s-1500s[2]).  We could certainly discuss the survivor motif once more (see my previous posts here and here); but I don’t think that’s quite the lesson we’re meant to learn from our Talia.

Throughout much of history, high-born women were given in marriage to secure political alliances.  These women were marrying strangers, a frightening concept in any era.  They had no guarantee of respect from their future husbands, let alone love.  Now, people are people, and I’m sure love blossomed in some of these situations…but there was no guarantee of it…

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sleeping beloved

Awakening Hearts: From Zellandine to Talia

The only love that can truly awaken your heart is the love of Christ, to which the Sleeping Beloved saga is an allegory.  Each of our versions covers an aspect of the awakening heart.  Zellandine’s story tenderly depicts the emotional journey of a survivor of violence.  We saw how nothing – no terror, no pain, no abuse – could ever separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:35-379), and that His love is able to redeem all things (Isaiah 61:1-3). 

Because Zellandine’s story deals with the emotional journey of a survivor, it is timeless.  Our next heroine, Talia, is far more at home in the Medieval and Renaissance periods.  She speaks for a culture quite alien to us, a culture where women didn’t have a say and had to find contentment without love.  We saw this to a certain extent in Zellandine’s story; it is more pronounced in Talia’s…

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sleeping beloved

The Sleeping Beauty’s Identity

The defining trait of our “Sleeping Beauty” is that she must not touch a spindle (or flax, if you read the earlier versions), or else she will die.

This is a strange “curse” to our modern ears, for we’ve lost the significance of spinning in our culture.  Before the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, every stitch of cloth came into being through the work of women…

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waiting

The Waiting Gap

We know the Lover and Beloved will be reunited.  We know that one day we’ll be in a place with no more tears, no more death, and no more pain.  The former things will have passed away, and all things will be made new (Rev. 21:4-5).  We don’t need to be troubled – we know He’s coming back.

We know this…yet we’ve grown weary of waiting.  We’re weary of the diagnosis being terminal, and watching our loved ones fade away.  We’re weary of reading of plane crashes and terrorist attacks in the news.  We’re weary of seeing our local youth succumb to Hopelessness and Despair, taking their own lives because they feel there’s no other way…

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Stories: Once Upon a Time…

Stories resound within us – they strike a chord within our very heartstrings, filling us to the brim.  Sometimes they fill us with yearning; other times, with fear.  We feel that good should win with such intensity that our hearts ache.  Yet even when good does win, there’s a small part of us that is sadly cynical – because things aren’t like that in “real life.”

But why can’t they be?  Well, there’s a Story for that, too.  It is the First Story, the original, if you will; and all our tales are pale reflections of this Story…

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