'Shakespeare' Tagged Posts
SWEET SORROW
Shakespeare’s Juliet says to Romeo: “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” English teachers might call that an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. But life is full of seeming contradictions which are not so contradictory. We talk about “bitter sweet moments,” or a “deafening silence,” or “an open secret,” or a “tragic comedy.” There is a sweet sorrow laced in the lines of today’s epistle lesson from 2 Corinthians. Paul says: “Godly sorrow produces repentance, which leads to salvation, leaving no…
“An Ever-Fixèd Mark”
Flip on the radio. Surf the stations. What are you likely to hear? Love songs. Songs of new love, romantic love, puppy love, spurned love. At some wedding receptions, anyone who wants the bride and groom to kiss has to sing a song with the word “love” in it. Almost always someone sings: “I’d love to be an Oscar Mayer wiener…” Sit in a high school literature class and it doesn’t take long to figure out that a…
SWEET SORROW
Shakespeare’s Juliet says to Romeo: “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” English teachers might call that an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. But life is full of seeming contradictions which are not so contradictory. We talk about “bitter sweet moments,” or a “deafening silence,” or “an open secret,” or a “tragic comedy.” What kind of sorrow can be sweet? What sort of sadness brings gladness? What brand of grief leads to relief? Is such a thing possible? Jesus told His disciples:…