A Different Kind of Romance

Amanda Deed is an author with a fresh touch. I reviewed her book on Goodreads:

An unusual story which I enjoyed because of the way it changed my feelings for the main protagonist. Yes, it was Henry's story all throughout...never mind what others were doing. A fellow who I would never be attracted to in the least and yet...why was he like this? Amanda Deed convincingly slips in the reasons, chapter by chapter. It's a clever plot and I didn't want to like this fellow. Even so sympathy is a strong emotion and you'd have to be cold not to see what happened then to a child is happening all too often today. Ah, but love is an even stronger emotion and that's what overcame his daily battles of self-loathing to win against all the odds.

 Some of Amanda's thoughts on the Bible book of I Corinthians:

 I was thinking about this passage last night, and a whole new level of depth opened up for me. It specifically mentions a few areas where love is important – communication, knowledge, faith and generosity. If we have all these things perfect, but don’t act in love, they are useless.

The thing is, this spreads to every area of life really. I mean, how many times do we hear on those reality cooking competitions ‘there is no love in this food’? Even if they used the right techniques and skills and it looked great, sometimes there is just not that extra wow that comes with love.

And again, when you listen to a skilled musician or watch a graceful dancer — without the love, it all becomes mechanical and doesn’t have the same impact.

It’s like love is the invisible foundation beneath all of life and without it, the world is colourless and meaningless. A world without love is no world at all.

Of course, when you think that GOD IS LOVE, it all makes sense. He’s in everything and He’s everywhere. That love — HIM — underpins all of life. So then, without Him, there is no life. When everything else is gone, love still remains. I’d say He’s a good thing to hold onto then.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 
 [1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV]