Very truly I tell you, unless a
kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it
produces many seeds. (John 12:24)
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. (I Corinthians 13:4-8)
I’ve told
the story before of a pastor I know who said that he would gladly go out and
slay dragons for his lady-love, but taking out the garbage was another matter.
We tend to like grand gestures, but the garbage-runs of life just somehow lack
that certain grandness that make them feel worthwhile to us.
People on
Quora (a social media site that allows people to ask and answer questions) seem
to like to ask questions about how to spend time in isolation, lockdown,
quarantine, or whatever you want to call it. Generally speaking, I list
activities: exercise, read, do your hobby, learn something, clean house,
garden, take a walk and pick up trash, take pictures, keep a journal, take a
walk and wave at people who drive by, play with your pet, train your pet, groom
your pet, pray, put signs in your window, learn a new skill, set goals,
volunteer somewhere that lets you help those who are facing harder times than
you are… I don’t know how anyone can not have something to do.
Another type
of question deals with how we can emerge from our caves (so to speak) as better
people and build a better society. I suspect that most of the people asking
this question are really hoping that everyone else will rise to their level of
enlightenment and somehow within thirty seconds of stepping out their door, society
will magically become a utopia. They’re going to be sadly disillusioned.
That doesn’t
mean their question isn’t a good one for us to ask. When we emerge from our
caves or cages, what sort of people do
we want to be? Do we want to go back to life as usual or do we want to make
changes? If we’re going to make changes, what changes?
The
questioners who ask about being better people are thinking in the right
direction. They may not be correct in their answers. They may be using magical
thinking. Their use of themselves (or something close to themselves) is unwise.
But, they’re right that we need to be thinking in terms of the sort of people
we are rather than what we’re going to do.
Today’s first
passage describes us right now. We’re grains of wheat that has fallen to the
ground. We are prevented from acting or reacting as we would normally, which
means that at least figuratively, we’re either dead or heading in that
direction. We don’t want to die. We believe we’re meant to be fruitful. And we’re
right. But the process of producing fruit demands that we die. The caterpillar
enters a chrysalis or spins a cocoon, and stops being a caterpillar. It dies,
and emerges as a butterfly – and it may be that the sole purpose of that butterfly
(or moth) is to produce fruit – eggs - before it dies again.
So as we
languish or grate our teeth in this voluntary lockdown, we need not only to
consider what sort of people we want to be when we emerge, but we need to start
becoming that sort of person now. God’s answer to the question of what sort of
people we should be is that we should love Him with all our hearts, souls,
minds, and strengths, and that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. Today’s
second passage is a famous portrait of love. Are you patient – really? Are you
kind? Do you not envy? Do you not boast? Are you not proud? You can read
through the rest of the list. Which do you need to work on to become the sort
of person you want to become? I feel the need to start at the beginning.
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