Theology of the Body and “The Office”

[Editor’s Note: Just as I hoped would happen, friends and other readers have begun sending me articles that are perfect for Love Among the Ruins.  Excerpted and linked below are some are great observations about one of my favorite shows. Please enjoy and keep forwarding anything related to TOB and culture!]

In my viewing and constant re-viewing of this series, what’s perhaps become more clear to me over time is that it’s not so much Jim or Pam’s singular, heroic decisions like leaving a New York job opportunity or quitting art school that really define their relationship.  Instead it’s the small, constant, sometimes imperfect decisions they make in an effort to better love and better serve one another.  My favorite author, Fulton Sheen, describes marriage as a bond between three people: the husband, the wife, and the love which draws both of them together, the love of Christ.  Caught up in the video narrative of The Office is, I believe, a profound window onto the kind of love that the Church has in mind in its teachings about marriage.  Jim and Pam share a love and a relationship that is not perfect, but that is always seeking greater perfection, and in doing so, the central role of the gift of self becomes paramount.

Be sure to read the rest here!