Love Without Limits

I just finished reading a book by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel. The story takes place during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. If this wasn't one of those "had to" books somewhere along the way in your education, I would encourage you to read it.

The hero is one Sir Percy Blakeney. It has been said that Sir Percy was the inspiration behind Batman. He is the original, superhero in disguise.

The story tells of Lady Blakeney, who has grown tired of her husband. He is an aloof socialite, if there can be such a thing. He is labeled as a large buffoon who just happens to be the wealthiest man in England.

Lady Blakeney’s heart belongs to a dashing hero, The Scarlet Pimpernel, who risks death to save the royalty of France from the guillotine. He uses his own money, a masterful ability to disguise himself, and a razor sharp mind to remain a mystery and escape the clutches of the French Republic.

Lady Blakeney has a brother who happens to fall captive to the forces of the French Republic. Her brother is offered in exchange for her discovery and betrayal of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Since Lady Blakeney knows everyone in society, her position makes her the one who can most likely find out the true identity of our hero. 

She efforts to save her brother leads her to information concerning times, places, and meetings for our hero. She turns these over to her blackmailer in an attempt to spare her brother from   the guillotine. She is unaware that the person she is condemning to death is her own husband, a man she would never suspect of being the dashing Scarlett Pimpernel.

Upon discovering her betrayal, she uses all her resources to save her husband, whom she has now decided is worthy of her affections.

The point of using this book for this writing is to illustrate the fickleness of the heart. Affections that were dead, have sprung to life once Lady Blakeney the hero is her own husband. She will go to great lengths, endure tremendous danger to try and save him whom she hardly talked to before. That is not the lesson the author intended. However, it is one of the things that comes out of the story.

How many times do we have little interest in a person until they, suddenly, do something interesting, something that makes them “worthy” of our time and effort? How many have we cast aside because they were not "useful" to us?

Christ offers to us, and requires from us a love much sturdier than that which follows our most recent items of interest. He offers us a love that holds up in tough times, and he asks us to give to one another the same.

Pastor Craig