First and Seconds

I must admit, I have to laugh when I hear couples, usually very young ones, telling each other that they need nothing else but the other person's love in all the world to survive. There will come a day, no matter how hopelessly in love they are, where one will want something more . . . more than the partner can ever give. It is at this point that they will do one of two things- either turn to God and place Him first, or try to find the "newness", the novelty, the excitement, with someone else (only to have the same troubles revisited again and again). The first problem in this little puzzle is that we have started out wrong. We have put a "person", maybe a good person, maybe even a kind and thoughtful person, but no matter- we have put them ahead of God. The tree will grow only so tall without water. Without sun it might not grow at all. Newness, or conversations, walks in the park, or intimacies may carry you (for a time, that is). This can only last so long before the real love must begin. The excitement of a new job had better not be the thing that keeps you showing up every morning. A new home will seem not so thrilling in a year or two when there's yard work and the dishes are piling up. The point is, what initially got you there can’t keep you (not the same way, anyway). It was never intended to do so. A person might as well expect after eating a wonderful meal never again to feel hungry. "Though I was filled, I hungered still."