love is many things, none of them logical

What does he see in her? What does he see in her? What does he see in her? What does he see in her? What does he see in her? In one way or another, we have all had ocasion to ask that question. When I was younger, my family used to watch a show on the Disney Channel called "Road to Avonlea." It's loosely based on the town of Lucy Maud Montgomery's books (Anne of Green Gables, etc.). Anyway, the undeserving female in question is Felicity, the eldest child of the King family, around whom most of the stories revolved. I think the best and most concise description of her I can give is one of Susan Pevensie given in C.S. Lewis' The Last Battle. "She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now, and she'll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one's life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can." She's always vain, usually selfish, often conceited, and rarely likeable.

When she's maybe 14, the age at which she best exemplifies all these fine attributes, she meets Gus Pike. He's a good, kind, hardworking young man maybe 17 or 18 fallen on hard times looking for work and lodging for a few days before he moves on. He meets this truly insufferable girl, and he likes her. Later, he returns to work as The Lighthouse Guy. And he still likes her. For the most part, she likes him too. Sometimes, she only likes being liked by him. For a while, she is courted by a richer, more educated young man, whereupon she drops Gus like a rock for a few episodes. Once, trying to impress some snobby out-of-town friends, she disowns him to his face (and her family too, for that matter). And yet he still likes her. Why? She's really not half so pretty as she thinks herself. (I personally suspect very few women ever manage to be as pretty as Felicity thinks herself.) But even if she were, Gus is wiser than most men twice his age and not one to be taken in by a pretty face. So why does he like her? It was in watching an old episode recently that I saw something I'd never seen before.

She had done something cruel and stupid. When she finally repented of her mistake, I found my answer in his eyes. I don't remember what he said. Maybe nothing. What I saw quite distinctly in his eyes (I certainly wasn't the one thinking it) was, "that's my girl!" That's when I realized why he likes her. She has the potential to be a decent human being when she actually tries to be one. He's not stupid; he knows exactly how rude and selfish and bratty she usually is. But he really is as wise as I give him credit for being; with a far greater clarity than I have ever had, he sees her potential, and is is for that potential that he loves her.

My next realization was, "Oh my gosh, this man is like God!" He loves us when we are stupid, rebellious and cruel because we have the potential to be like Him. The more I think about it, the more it scares me because that how I'm supposed to love. That's how I'm supposed to love everyone. Everyone's a lot of people. So... Tom Hanks... okay! My little brother... yeah. My roommate... sure. Felicity King...... um...... mhngh... uh-oh. I hope I live a long long life. I may need a lot of time to learn to love Felicity King.

PS: The title line is from William Goldman's The Princess Bride. I thought I should credit him.