"This pity deceives itself regularly about its powers; woman would like to believe that love can achieve anything -- that is her characteristic faith. Alas, whoever knows the heart will guess how poor, stupid, helpless, arrogant, blundering, more apt to destroy than to save is even the best and profoundest love!"

These words by Nietzsche put love in a perspective that we don't tend to want to consider. Yet how true is it? Too me it hums with a truthfulness that is seldom heard. It has a familiarity that reminds me of my own poor attempts at loving.

Nietzsche goes on to say:

"It is possible that underneath the holy fable and disuise of Jesus' life there lies concealed one of the most painful cases of the martyrdom of knowledge about love; the martyrdom of the most innocent and desirous heart, never sated by an human love; demanding love, to be loved and nothing else, with hardness, with insanity, with terrible eruptions against those who denied him love; the story of a poor fellow, unsated and insatiable in love, who had to invent hell in order to send to it those who did now want to love him -- and who finally, having gained knowledge about human love, had to invent a god who is all love, all ability to love -- who has mercy on human love because it is so utterly wretched and unknowing. Anyone who feels that way, who knows this about love -- seeks death."

The beatiful contrast, the damning honesty - it stirrs an unholy amen within me. It speaks the words my mind wrestled for in the shadows of my faith.