Well, here it is. If there was a greatest hits album of Holy Scripture, 1 Corinthians 13 would be one of the top five tracks. This is Christianity’s “Hotel California,” that song that even if you’re not a fan, you somehow know the words. This is the Church’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Sure, you’ve seen the film, but can’t remember when. You’ve heard this reading at your niece’s wedding — the one who you didn’t know even read the Bible. You’ve seen it painted on bookmarks, edited, quoted, commoditized.
I have no problem with the reading being popular — that’s great — but I do wish it wasn’t so sanitized. Gone from the reading is the deep reflection it asks of us, namely, How do we love? First off, love as I often write in this series shouldn’t just be taken to mean romantic love. When Paul writes about love he means — yes — romantic love (that’s why your niece loves the quote) but also familial love, brotherly love for society, and spiritual or agape love.
Paul says we see “indistinctly, as in a mirror,” and that “love is patient and kind.” The more I love the more I realize how indistinctly I see. I’ve danced with barefoot children in New Mexico, sat across the table from my fiancé, laughed with my mentor, cried with my mother— all moments when my heart wanted to simply explode because of the love that I received, and still “patient” and “kind” are two words that don’t necessarily come to mind when thinking of my personality. This reading is a challenge to us! It demands that we ask ourselves: Is our love patient? Is our love kind? Is it boastful?
I notice most people skip the part about the need to mature: “When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11). This famous reading is also telling us that we must be quite adult when it comes to viewing love. Often, we would like to keep love easy, but it is never easy. I think of Paul’s mirror image: “At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror…” If we are to love truly, then, to borrow from Bertolt Brecht — “faith is not a mirror, it is a hammer!” — we must shatter our preconceived notions of who deserves our love. Faith is the hammer that shatters our preconceived notions of familial love, romantic love, agape love. It “contains multitudes” (Song of Myself) to quote Whitman. So, if we want to love as Christ loved, then we have to take that hammer of faith and shatter the mirror to see not partially but fully the love that God has for all of us. It will make us love our neighbor and stranger better, it may even make you love that guy you’re not crazy about — you know, the guy marrying your niece. Have a blessed week.
I’ll be seeing you,
Elliot