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Love Is


Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

 It is not rude, 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.  (I Corinthians 13:4-8a)
     According to some, today's passage is the definition of love.[1] I think it's the description, which isn't quite the same thing. It tells what love looks like and what it does, not really what it is. What it does or what it looks like might be more important than exactly what it is.
     With that in mind, I'm going to suggest that you begin doing two exercises. The first is to read through our passage for today, out loud, preferably looking in a mirror, as follows:
 God's is patient with me,
God is kind to me.
God does not envy me,
God does not boast to me,
God is not proud. 
God is not rude to me,
God is not self-seeking with me,
God is not easily angered with me,
God keeps no record of my wrongs.
God does not delight in the evil I do but rejoices with the truth.
God always protects me,
God always trusts me,
God always hopes for me,
God always perseveres.
God never fails me.
      As you are reading, pay attention to your responses. When I first tried this, there were parts I could not say aloud. There were parts that made me cry. There were parts that made me angry. As you note your responses, take them to God and let Him work in those areas. Then try the second exercise. Choose a family member or friend -  or of you're ready for a real challenge, the name of an enemy. Read through the passage for today out loud, preferably looking in a mirror, using his/her/their name(s) to fill in the blanks as follows:
                I am patient with __________, I am kind to ____________. I do not envy __________, I do not boast to _______, I am not proud with respect to ________.
 I am not rude to _________, I am  not self-seeking around __________, I am not easily angered with ________,  I keep no record of ________________'s wrongs.
I do not delight in evil done to __________but rejoice with the truth.
I always protect _________, always trust ___________, always hope for ______________,
I always perseveres with regard to __________. I never fail _________.
  (I Corinthians 13:4-8a)
 
                Again, pay attention to your responses and pray about them. This is an exercise you may want to continue daily for a while, and to return to occasionally.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In the Sky: Tonight and tomorrow night will be the peak of the Quatrantid Meteor Shower
On this day in history: Father Damien and J. R. R. Tolkien were born
     “And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!”
      She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.
     “I pass the test”, she said. “I will diminish, and go into the West and remain Galadriel.”
                                                                               J.R. R. Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring 

[1] My opinion is that the best definition of love is this: Love is a consuming fire. It is a burning, unquenchable passion for the blessedness and happiness, and, above all, for the perfection of the beloved object. The greater the love, the less it can tolerate the presence of anything that is unworthy or less than the best, or injurious to the happiness of the loved one. Therefore it is perfectly true that love, which is the most beautiful and the most gentle passion in the universe can and must be at the same time terrible – terrible in what it is willing to endure itself in order to secure the blessedness and happiness and perfection of the loved, and, also apparently terrible in what it will allow the beloved to endure if suffering is the only means by which the perfection or restoration to health of the beloved can be secured." (Hannah Hurnard, Mountains of Spices, Wheaton, IL, Living Books, 1977, p. 142 )
 

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