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Always...

  [Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (I Corinthians 13:7-8a)

          Always? Never? Does today’s love exercise make you feel as much like a failure as it makes me feel? I can’t say that I always protect, trust, hope, or persevere, or that I never fail.

Or can I? Yes? No? Maybe? If you love someone for ten seconds, and then fail to always/never for twenty seconds, yes, you’ve failed. This is something discussed in Practicing the Presence of God. When the author found his mind wandering away from God, he didn’t throw up his hands and declare himself a failure. He just refocused and got on with life. It’s also a standard in sports analogies. If you hit one ball out of every three, you’re a pretty good baseball player. It’s a staple of skill development. You’re going to fail at every skill even after you’ve become an expert. Only God always/nevers, and chances are good, there are times when I think even He fails (I’m wrong, but and that’s just proof that I don’t always/never.)

          If I start walking north and don’t stop, eventually, I’ll get to my hometown. I might break an ankle and have to stop for 6 weeks. I might realize I’m on the wrong road and have to backtrack a hundred miles. Ugh! There might be a snowstorm that makes it impossible for me to hike through the mountains for a week. It might take me ten years to walk 1100 miles, or 2000 miles if I take wrong turns too often. If I set myself up to walk 20 miles per day, and only walk 19.75, I’ll have failed. But that doesn’t mean I won’t eventually get home.

          Love is the same way. We may fail a million times per day, but if it remains our goal, we will end up loving. We may not always/never, but we may become people who – given time – always/never.

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