Love is…

Reading: 1 Cor 12:31-13:13

Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.   Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Reflection: Clacking and Clanging

Where are the shoes? Does everyone have a water bottle? What activities do we have after school today? Getting five people out of the house each morning sometimes feels like an Olympic pentathlon, no matter how hard I try to plan ahead. My voice sounds as empty as a resounding gong or clanging cymbal. 

This passage, which is so often used that we can be tempted to tune it out, is actually challenging. How radical is love that is kind, self-sacrificing, generous, trusting, hopeful, and encouraging. In my hectic day to day reality, what voice is rising above them all? Is it the demanding, self-seeking, and impatient voice? Or the voice of faith, hope, and love?

Prayer:

Love is- 

Moving as slow as molasses… or a four year old; 

listening to the play by play of the recess soccer game.
Love is driving- and driving and driving…

Love is forgiving of messy rooms and mistakes; 
Encouraging new friendships and community. 

Love is quitting an activity that is not helping them grow-
even if you bought all the gear, and cleared your schedule, and arranged a carpool.

Love is making time for the things they love,
and helping them let go of the things they don’t.

Lord, teach me to be patient, kind, and selfless,
Even in my real everyday life.