EROS

Although quite a challenging read, there were many points made by Lewis that made a sincerely profound impression on me. In this reading he focuses on Eros, the love which we experience when we say we are "in love" with someone.

Through our classroom discussion, I found what was very interesting was the view that Eros was the closest to Agape love than the others, in the way we relate to the person who we direct it towards. However what we noted was that it is the most fallen of all the loves, the most mortal. Why is this we may ask? Well I believe this is because it is the easiest for the Devil to twist into something which seems all fulfilling,it can “come to become a god”, therefore replacing the correct object of our worship, especially when taken too seriously. Lewis says this is not to mean it should not be taken seriously at all, but rather with the correct kind of seriousness.

Another point that was very profound that he made clear in the recording was that Eros does not necessary lead to happiness. In fact, more often, it is the opposite. He however says “we would rather share unhappiness with the beloved than happiness on any other account”. Without very extensive self-examination, I knew that this was very true to me in my personal experience. One finds that they are so drawn to their “beloved” that nothing else seems worth it without them.

One thing I had never really considered, although I so often observe it is the capriciousness of Eros. Lewis says it “promises to be eternal but is notoriously fickle”. That is the great distinguishing factor of Eros, evident in relationship after relationship with men promising their sweethearts the world along with their undying affection, and forgetting the next week.

Lewis, towars the end speaks about the difference between falling in love and being in love. His analogy with the swimming pool and diving into it versus continuing to swim was one that I believe put his point across perfectly. I learnt that the “diving part”, although what we seem to be putting the most emphasis on nowadays, is the easy part; we can fall in love again and again, but this is utterly useless if we do not maintain it by “swimming”. Simply put “falling in lovehappens to you, but being in love is something you do”, something that must be worked at, day by day. In our current society of soaring divorce rates, it seems that there are few who are seeking to do this, and as Christians, we need to recognize this, and reform the trend.