Valentine's Day

The greatest of all things is LOVE.

The greatest, confirmed by the Apostle Paul of old, and agreed upon by the world’s greatest thinkers, artists and poets is:

LOVE

Love is the best, even says Paul better than faith or hope

The Bible book 1 Corinthians 13 is Apostle Paul’s finest expressions of love by far, perhaps the finest writings in all of his letters.  But even Paul acknowledges that there is no really complete and definitive definition of love.  But Paul says what real love, ultimate love is, can only occur as a result of a meaningful, experiential, loving relationship with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ.  The fulfillment of that comes eternally, but here and now, the longer, the deeper the relationship with HIM, the more the meaning of love becomes clear.  That, says Paul, that relational love is ultimate reality.

Love is good.  In fact, good is defined by love.  For no mere mortal can do good without love. One may intend, willingly so to live right, perhaps following the Ten Commandments and other great moral precepts. But that mere intention, the act of the will is not enough for it lacks the energy, the conviction, the power of real LOVE, total love.

For as one poet has said:

GOD SAYS TO US IN LOVE: I HOLD YOU IN MY MIND. I REMEMBER YOU. I HOLD ALL OF THE PIECES OF YOU. THE PAST WOUNDS AND THE PRESENT. AND IN LOVE, I KNIT THEM TOGETHER INTO THE PERSON I LOVE, THE PERSON I CREATED TO GIVE ME JOY:

YOU

More. Love says Paul is patient. Love is longsuffering, not easily provoked. Love knows how to wait, fully observe, and listen, perhaps most importantly LISTEN. Love sees and hears the other. As the poet Thomas Merton said:

THE BEGINNING OF LOVE IS TO LET THOSE WHO LOVE BE PERFECTLY THEMSELVES, AND NOT TO TWIST THEM TO FIT OUR OWN IMAGE. OTHERWISE, WE LOVE ONLY THE REFLECTION OF OURSELVES WE FIND IN THEM.

In a world angry and hateful and growing worse, love is the only antidote, the ONLY!  With his heart wide open, the Apostle Paul says love is KIND.  The life of a lover is lived easy, gentle, avoiding confrontation and struggle wherever possible. Said the writer Sydnie Smith:

IF YOU HAD NO ONE TO LOVE, YOU WOULD NEVER BE HURT. BUT YOU WOULD NEVER GROW. YOU WOULD NEVER VENTURE OUTSIDE OF YOUR OWN SELF-CENTERED NEEDS AND PERCEPTIONS. YOUR HEART WOULD NEVER BE CRACKED OPEN SO THAT GOD COULD ENTER IT. TO LOVE AND TO LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY IS TO TAKE RISKS, AND ESPECIALLY THE RISK OF REJECTION.  BUT NOTHING ENERGIZES AND CLEANSES LIKE LOVE, NOTHING!

Love, says the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 allows the lover to dwell on good things. The lover avoids gossip and negative language. Love stays silent in the face of false accusations as Jesus did. The communication of a lover is positive as Rod McKuen said:

IF YOU LOVE SOMEBODY, TELL THEM!  THE TELLING UNLEASHES THE ENERGY AND THE POWER OF LOVE.

Does it ever.  It seems difficult for so many to say distinctly, clearly and unconditionally:

I LOVE YOU

For that is the ultimate exposure, “a heart cracked open.”  But those three words are perhaps the most powerful in the English language.

Love then says Paul does not insist on its own rights or its own way. A loving person gets more out of giving, and caring than getting. To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others. So said the writer Francois Mauriac.  Love is a miracle, miraculous in its absolutely powerful and transforming effect. That kind of giving, other-ness is truly the love of God at work which both constrains and motivates.

Love says Paul, never keeps a moral balance sheet.  Lovers take no account of the wrongs or evil done by others.  Love forgives and forgets.  It is difficult to forget but Paul says if you live in love, you can forget. That is so even for the most difficult object of love, an ENEMY.  It seems hard to believe that we could love an Islamic terrorist or an angry political opponent or even a hateful family member or friend. We really can’t, but we can do so with the power of a loving God working within us who himself forgave us, forgot what was wrong with us and only in return, asked us to forgive others.

The theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said the following:

WE ARE SAVED BY THE FINAL FORM OF LOVE, WHICH IS FORGIVENESS.  FORGIVING AND FORGETTING ARE THE HIGHEST ACTS OF LOVE RESULTING IN OUR SALVATION. THERE WAS ONE YEARS AGO DRIVEN TO THE CROSS BY THE LOVE OF MANKIND PROVIDED IN HIS DEATH, THE LIFE AND THE LOVE WE LEAD.  THE CROSS WAS THE FINAL AND FORGIVING FORM OF LOVE.

Was it ever. The crucifixion of the Christ on the cross was indeed the ultimate act of love.

Love protects and defends.  It guards the hearts and minds of the young.  It trains up children in the way in which they should go.  It shows them the way of the Lord, the path of righteousness.  It helps them to resist the devil who in the face of love will flee and not return.

Love is loyal and always at work. The great writer St. Augustine said the following:

WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE?  WHY, IT HAS HANDS TO HELP OTHERS. IT HAS FEET TO HASTEN TO THE POOR AND NEEDY. IT HAS EYES TO SEE MISERY AND WANT. IT HAS EARS TO HEAR THE SIGHS AND SORROWS OF HUMANKIND. THAT IS WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE!

Amen and amen.

And then Paul says:

LOVE NEVER FAILS

It endures, never-ending here but more importantly FOR ALL ETERNITY. True love, ultimate love can never be destroyed.