Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. I Peter 4:8
With five grandchildren, I am pretty well familiar with all the Disney movies and songs. But my hands down favorite is Beauty and the Beast, the old tale of the handsome prince whose beast is cleverly hidden beneath the trappings of privilege. When he refuses to help an old woman (a fairy in disguise), she turns him into the beast that he already is. The only cure is true love—within a specified time frame.
You know the story. Beautiful Belle gets lost and winds up in his castle. Of course, she is terrified when she first sees the Beast, but in time, she gets to know the person inside that dreadful shell, falls in love, and watches the Beast’s transformation. Part of the lyrics say:
Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bitter sweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong
Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the beast.
Edwin Markham once wrote: “He drew a circle that shut me out-Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle and took him in!”
Father, this world is full of people who are ugly when they do not know love. Strengthen us to get beyond ourselves and our affinities to become transforming agents through your love. And, Father, we confess that in loving others, we ourselves are transformed. In Jesus name. AMEN.
agodforeveryday 