A Quiet Romantic Meal

I don't know if I've ever shared this, but I am a romantic at heart. The main reason I want to get into counseling is to help people with their romantic relationships, especially marriage. There is something so profound and beautiful about a woman and a man doing life together.

One of my favorite passages from Proverbs 30:

18 "There are three things that are too amazing for me,
four that I do not understand:

19 the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
and the way of a man with a maiden.

I think this passage mostly refers to the wonders of sexual love, but there is something mysterious and engaging about romantic love in general. One of the things I really enjoy is watching couples together at Olive Garden. I'm a couples watcher. I'm intrigued at how different couples interact. Some everyday (but still profound) things I see every night at OG:

1. An elderly couple celebrating their 40th or 50th anniversary with family and friends. You can actually feel the respect that others have for them and the subtle but tender ways the couple show their affection.

2. A young couple on their first date. The delightful awkwardness, the desire, the nervousness, the inability to form cohesive sentences. Everything is exciting and terrifying at the same time.

3. The middle aged couple who don't know how to relate. They find themselves at a meal together and not knowing how to be together; the meal is full of long quiet periods and it's not until after dessert that they relax and really begin to talk with each other. You can sense it - they've found themselves as a couple again.

4. The new parents who have finally gotten a babysitter and are enjoying their first sleep deprived time away from their baby. Sometimes zombieish, they do not know what to do with their freedom and it takes them until the main dishes are served (or longer) to remember their couplehood again. They enjoy it for a few precious minutes and then they leave and go home to their baby.


To me, all of these simple meals are sacred times. I feel honored to be a small part of them. I'm not sure what it is, but when people share a meal together there is the potential for something very intimate to happen. Especially when it's a couple. I think that if most couples would just sit down for a leisurely meal once week, there would be a lot less divorce (and we might even achieve world peace!). If you have a significant other, why not take them out for dinner? Whether it's McDonald's or fine dining, it doesn't matter. And honey, if you're reading this, let's go out for dinner next week. My treat.

May Light increase!