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Always and Never

             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 13:7-8)

          One of the rules of good argument is that one should never use the words always and never. This rule refers to accusations against someone, not compliments to them. Today’s passage ends the famous description (not definition) of love with four always and one never. That’s 80% positive, and since the negative negates a negative, it’s positive, too.

          If you have been keeping up with the “read it looking in a mirror” exercise,  you’ll already have noted that there are two directions to be considered. First, in God’s love for us: He protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres, and never fails. Second, in our love for God and for others: we protect, trust, hope, persevere, and never fail.

And my immediate response to them all is “Ha!” God protects me? Trusts me? Hopes in or for me? (He must be mad!) God perseveres? Well, I can see that one. God never fails me? I protect anyone? (Well, I tend to try to protect God and people from me.) Trust anyone? Hope in or for anyone? Well, maybe but not always. I persevere? (Ha ha!) I never fail? I’ll just admit it. I tend to be blind.  When I’m not blind, I suspect I look in the wrong places. I suspect we all want to be protected from things that inconvenience us, not that are likely to harm us. The rest of the list has similar problems. On our side, it’s worse, because we don’t always or never anything.

Even in our failures, we must again remind ourselves that love is our goal, even if we’re not there yet. And so, which would you most like to grow in this year? Protecting? Trusting? Hoping? Persevering? Never failing? Which would you like to be more conscious of this year? God’s protection? His trust? His hoping for you? His perseverance? His not failing? I think I’d like to trust God and others more (Yes, recognizing that not everyone can be trusted – but to trust better those I can) and that I’d be more conscious of His protection.

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