The name of this blog is a line from a poem by Alfred Noyes, an early 20th Century Catholic poet.
Song
I came to the door of the House of Love
and knocked as the starry night went by;
And my true love cried “Who knocks?” and I said
“It is I.”
And Love looked down from a lattice above
Where the roses were dry as the lips of the dead:
“There is not room in the House of Love
For you both,” he said.
I plucked a leaf from the porch and crept
Away through a desert of scoffs and scorns
To a lonely place where I prayed and wept
And wove me a crown of thorns.
I came once more to the House of Love
And knocked, ah, softly and wistfully,
And my true love cried “Who knocks?” and I said
“None now but thee.”
And the great doors opened wide apart
And a voice rang out from a glory of light,
“Make room, make room for a faithful heart
In the House of Love, to-night.”
Alfred Noyes
I am not a poetry critic, and it has been a long while since I took an English class, but I think this poem captures something powerful about the nature of love. Genuine love is always sacrificial, because it always seeks the good of the beloved. If I love someone, I give myself to them in some way. The precise character of the gift may vary depending on the kind of love involved, whether it is the love of friends, spouses, or family, but it always excludes certain possibilities. If I love my friend, I will not use or betray them, and if I have promised myself to my spouse, I will not be unfaithful to them. Genuine love demands that I give up my claim to absolute freedom and sacrifice my desires to act in certain ways when they conflict with the good of the beloved. Note that this love is not a feeling, but a promise or covenant.
In the beginning of the poem, the lover has not realized this. Since he is unwilling to give himself, he cannot yet enter into true fellowship with the beloved. He cannot receive the gift of love until he is willing to give himself. He is turned away, but in this comes to realize what love demands of him, and the demand is a painful one. But how great the reward when he returns and is received into the House of Love.
This poem reflects on a great theme of the Gospel, that we must lose ourselves if we are to be saved, that we must give ourselves if we are to receive. In Christ we see this love most fully, as in Christ God gave Himself for the salvation of His beloved. As Christians we are called to conform ourselves after the image of Christ, to love as He loved. We give ourselves up to Him, but in doing this He richly gives us Himself.
The title of this blog reminds us that love is a promise and that every promise is a sacrifice, but a beautiful sacrifice because through it we can receive the gift of another. None now but thee refers to the promise of a Christian to follow none other than Christ, to give ourselves to Him. And it also refers to the covenant of marriage, when we give ourselves to another person for life.
For now, we remain selfish, and so this love is not easy, but we were created to receive and enjoy it forever, and it is the most beautiful gift of the God who Himself is called Love.