Late last year, pop-star icon Ariana Grande released the single ‘thank u, next’ and announced her upcoming album of the same name. The song took the world by storm, breaking new records on the charts and the title itself becoming a popular catch-phrase that millennials are bound to be using as their Instagram captions for the next few years.
The break-up song celebrates self-love and learning from past relationships, but these values get lost in it’s poorly written chorus; the repetition of “next!” Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty great song and Ariana always delivers vocally. However, like the majority of her songs, the lyrical content is hit-and-miss. In this case, the opportunity to fully embrace themes of growth and empowerment is gone due to the contradictory lyrics about moving on. As Ari wishes all her exes the best, she belts out “next” in anticipation of all the upcoming boys that she will try out a relationship with. This captivates a pressing issue in society, which is that being single doesn’t hold much value!
I see so many of my friends experience a breakup and within a few weeks, they are ready to start again with someone new. And unfortunately, pop culture supports this notion. We all have a longing desire within all of us to love and be loved, but too often this need gets mistaken for the need to get into a relationship.
What so many people don’t realise is that we can experience love in singleness. A beautiful way to explain this can be found through the teachings of the Ancient Greeks, who contend there are eight different types of love and not all of them refer to romantic love.
Storge refers to kinship and familiarity, often attributed to the affection found between parents and their children, while philia refers to friendship; the bond you experience with your best friend who you have been through thick and thin. The teaching of the Ancient Greeks can remind us of all the different types of love that we can experience in this world, free of any romance or intimacy.
However, there is one love that is the most important one of all; and that is God’s love. And the best part? Everyone, including single people, can experience God’s love to the fullest. It’s only when we realise this when we become content with being single. This time period allows us to explore the complex and brilliant nature of our Creator, in which we will discover a whole new type of love – an everlasting kind – that can not be found in physical relationships.
So after we say thank you to our exes for all of the things they have taught us in life, I encourage all my single people out there to hold off the ‘next’. Enjoy the sacredness of being single, which comes with boundless opportunities. Relationships are an important aspect of our life, but this can refer to the relationship we have with our mates, our family and God. We all know that He does have a plan for us, and we can have faith that he will provide us with that special someone when the time is right – that is if a romantic relationship is part of God’s plan for you!
Psalm 136:26 motivates us to “give thanks to the God of heaven [as] His love endures forever”
AUTHOR: Adam May-Bower, attends Burwood Community Church, VIC.