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One of my favorite movies is A Princess Bride. It is a story of true love between Wesley and a beautiful farm girl named Buttercup. Although the story includes villains, sword fights, pirates and scary creatures, it also has a simple phrase to describe love. The phrase is “as you wish.” Wesley often speaks it to Buttercup. A simple phrase that shows the selfless nature of true love — the willingness of Wesley to defer his will for the happiness of Buttercup.
Fairy tales like A Princess Bride are often about true love. They reflect our human desire to be loved selflessly by another.
True love, however, is not just about romantic love. It also describes selfless acts to save another. CBS News reported in late December about two children who sledded onto an icy pond in New Jersey. They fell through the thin ice into the water. Five teen boys rushed to form a human chain and pulled the two children to safety. They plunged in thinking nothing of the risk to themselves.
Of course the most classic example of true love is also about a selfless act to save others. The story of Christianity centers on the act of sacrifice by Jesus to satisfy the demands of God’s justice. Jesus deferred his will and sacrificed His life so that any and all who want it – including you – can be loved as God’s children.
WCBS Staff, “Teens form human chain to save siblings after sled crashes into icy NJ pond,” WKYT Stands for Kentucky, December 22, 2020, https://www.wkyt.com/2020/12/22/teens-form-human-chain-to-save-siblings-after-sled-crashes-into-icy-nj-pond/.