CYRANO: Ah no! young blade! That was a trifle short!
You might have said at least a hundred things
By varying the tone. . .like this, suppose,. . .
Aggressive: ‘Sir, if I had such a nose I’d amputate it!’
Friendly: ‘When you sup It must annoy you, dipping in your cup;
You need a drinking-bowl of special shape!’
Descriptive: ”Tis a rock!. . .a peak!. . .a cape! —
A cape, forsooth! ‘Tis a peninsular!’ 

Ah, the famous nose scene from Cyrano De Bergerac, a classic play and one of my favorites. It’s actually one of my dream roles that I would love to perform if I ever act again in the theater. The play was written by Edmund Rostand in 1897. It’s premise is about a soldier, a dashing officer of the guard and a romantic poet, who secretly falls in love with his distant cousin Roxanne, but there’s a couple of obstacles. One is his big nose that he feels hinders him from telling Roxanne his true feelings and the other is that Roxanne falls in love with one of his cadets, Christian and asks Cyrano to protect him for her. Christian, the handsome cadet loves Roxanne too but is inept when it comes to talking to women he likes. He asks Cyrano for help. Cyrano disappointed of course, agrees to write love letters to Roxanne on behalf of Christian not because of Christian but because he loves Roxanne so much that he’d do anything to see that she was happy. There’s a wonderful balcony scene where Cyrano is coaching Christian in trying to woo Roxanne. Christian of course tries to speak on his own and fumbles with his words. Roxanne is about to leave in disgust and return to her bedroom but Cyrano prevents her.  He puts on Christian’s hat and begins to whisper sweet words of love to her in the darkness. Roxanne, thinking it’s Christian, is smitten and totally won over by his words. When Cyrano is finished, Christian climbs up on the balcony and he is the one who gets to feel her embrace, he is the one who gets to kiss her lips. Cyrano is torn to want Roxanne for himself, but he lets her go into the arms of the man whom she loves. All Cyrano can do is watch from the distance. Roxanne and Christian soon marry but are separated when Cyrano and his cadets are sent to the front lines of battle. Cyrano, continues to pose as Christian and writes to Roxanne everyday of his love for her.  He even sacrifices himself to cross through enemy lines just to mail her the love letters. Cyrano tries to protect Christian but Christian eventually dies on the battlefield. Years after the battle, Cyrano visits Roxanne regularly to give her the news of the day. She has never remarried and lives in a convent still mourning the death of Christian. However, one day while on his way to visit Roxanne, an enemy of his, swings a log in his direction and Cyrano gets a serious blow to the head injuring him. He tries to cover up his injury and finally makes it to the convent looking all pale and tired. He asks Roxanne if he could read Christian’s last letter he wrote to her before he died. Roxanne gives it to him and he begins to read it to her. Suddenly, the candle goes out and they are now in darkness but Cyrano knows the letter by heart and continues to recite the letter to her. It is at this point she realizes that he was the one all along who wrote the letters and she declares her love for him. He then breathes his last and dies in her arms. Wow, what a moving story of a man who instead of using his gifts and his talents for himself, he uses it for a noble cause, he uses the poetic genius of his words and sacrifices his very life for the life of His love. He gives up his dreams, his wants, his needs, for another, a selfless love. Isn’t that also just like our God?! We are His prized possession, we are His bride, He loves us so much even when we can’t see it, even when we choose to fall in love with the things of this world over Him. He still gives up everything, the throne of heaven, for a manger in a stable, a crown of jewels for a crown of thorns and still we look to others to fulfill us. Still we fill our hearts with a cheap imitation of love that the world gives and we come up empty every single time. Yet still He pursues us, He writes us everyday His love letters, words written in His blood, letters that we sometimes take for granted collecting dust on our coffee tables.   What is it going to take for us to have our eyes opened in the dark, to see for the first time that He is our only true love? When will we stop mourning after the loss of our “Christian” and open our eyes to see that Jesus the “Cyrano” of our soul has been visiting us all along? When will we truly discover that nothing will ever satisfy or come close to the love He has for us? A love that is pure, a love that is selfless. My prayer for us is that we don’t realize this at the end of the third act, we discover it now. We realize it before the curtain falls. My prayer is that we would invite Him up on the balcony for a passionate embrace and a holy kiss. My prayer is that we would once again rediscover that Jesus is all we ever needed for our lonely hearts. Do you hear that? Every night He calls out from the darkness below the balcony of our hearts. Will we sleep through the night or will we rise to meet Him under the pale moonlight? It’s our choice. He is a perfect gentleman and He will never force us but He will always be there every night just waiting for you and me to wake up from our tired and dull chambers.  Wake up from our slumber Bride of Christ! Jesus, our  lover is here, we will not be disappointed. He will whisper to our longing souls some of the most beautiful love sonnets ever spoken. He will quench the thirst of our lonely hearts. He will wipe away all our tears. Quiet, be still now, do you hear Him calling?  Listen as He woos us with these words, “You Are my Beloved and you will always be my Beloved.”

Song of Solomon 8:6

“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.” 

Song of Solomon 8:3

“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.”