Trying to Forget

This was the first episode of Once Upon A Time where I wanted to punch the writers.  They chickened out on a story line that was actually admirable...  I wrote a previous post (The Making of a Prince) applauding the fact that David (aka Snow White's Prince Charming) was choosing to honor his marriage commitment despite feelings for Mary Margaret.  And then this week David & Mary Margaret kiss passionately at the end of the episode... He's still married... and just had a conversation with his wife about how he wants to make it work.  Would it have been such a bad thing for him to actually be a man of strong character and integrity?  In the Enchanted Forest, he chooses not to go through with his wedding to Abigail because he's in love with Snow White.  Much more honorable than kissing another woman while he's still married.... Sigh!

Prior to that kiss, though, this episode resonated deeply with my heart.  It focused on Snow White/Mary Margaret and Prince James/David trying to deal with their feelings for each other in both the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke.  Snow White wants a way to forget she loves him, so she winds up meeting with Rumpelstiltskin who gives her a potion (while keeping a lock of her hair... strange!) that will make her forget him completely.  Before she can drink it, a note arrives from James asking her to come to the castle; if she does, he'll know she loves him and they can be together.  She goes, but of course gets captured and the King tells her she must give James up or he will be killed.  Although it breaks her heart, she does, and leaves in the company of the dwarves.  James chooses not to go through with the wedding and goes in search of Snow, who drinks the potion and wakes on what should be a happy morning with no recollection of the man she loved.

How many times have I longed for that sort of potion?!  Those moments when you know you have to let go of the hope of a relationship but the task seems impossible.  How do you forget the feelings that have been stirred in your heart?  How do you keep your mind from dwelling on him and what might have been?  How do you do any of that when, like Mary Margaret & David, you live in a small town where it's almost impossible not to run into each other?  Or maybe it would be better just to turn off your feelings until you meet the right person... But alas, there is no "off" switch... no magic potion.

I'm learning more and more about the role God wants to play in these situations.  There's a moment in the Bible when we're told not to awaken love before its time.  I don't completely understand the command, but I'm starting to think that God will lull love back to sleep if we ask Him to.  Could we maybe take our feelings to Him when they first start and ask Him if the timing is right?  Could we learn to surrender them instead of dwelling on them and letting them awaken completely?  Could we awaken our passion and love for God instead, allowing those feelings to override anything else and become the fulfillment of our desires?  And when we do allow ourselves to dwell on and develop feelings for the wrong person, can we take our bruised hearts to Him for healing?  I think He would like nothing more than help us fall more in love with Him so the pain of unrequited love can subside.  It's not as simple as swallowing a magic potion... but I think it might work better.