The Greatest of These is Love...

(1 Corinthians 15)

1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Today's blog post is a brief one and it's about love.

Today's worship at Christmas included the infamous "love is patient" passage from Paul's letter to the Corinthians.  I say it's infamous, because, well, it is, but also because it's typically used for weddings or other romantic occasions (*see the hospital sick scene with Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember).  I think this struck me today in church, more so than normally, about the type of love within friends and people.  I thought of Randy's "Agape" meal during staff training at Lutherlyn every year.  Agape love, which is the "Christian love" of the Bible, means affection, benevolence, good-will, high esteem and concern for the welfare of the one loved.  It is deliberate, purposeful love rather than emotional or impulsive love.  

So I then read this description of "love", and I can't help but to think about Valentine's Day.  I've never been depressed on Valentine's Day, or "Singles Awareness Day" as a lot of people say.  I've also never seen Valentine's day as a romantic holiday.  The holiday has always meant getting cards and chocolate from my mom, and has recently included writing valentines to friends, very retro.  I mean, come on, how many college juniors fill out Batman valentines for their friends?  Valentine's Day isn't about roses and teddy bears.  It's about love.   

Agape love, or the concern for the welfare of someone, is very much like my Valentine's Day love.  It's meant to make others feel loved and cherished, and not for a romantic purpose.  Paul's letter to the Corinthians further supports this agape love.  Listening to the EAPPI that read this passage in church today, perhaps because he's British and it just sounded that much more elegant, I feel like I understand it more now.  

"If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."  I have by no means given away all of my possessions.  In fact, I feel like I haven't given up much in being a volunteer here.  I've given up some mere conveniences for a year, but that's not that much in the grand scheme of things.  I get the sense that people at home feel like I'm doing something much bigger than I think I'm doing.  I'm rambling now.  The point is, that even with living here and "giving up" some basic things to live here, if I'm doing it for my resume or doing it so that I can say, "I lived in Palestine!" then I'm not doing it for the right reason.  The motive behind why you do something speaks much louder than the action itself.  I gain nothing if I do something without love.

I am here with love.  I first wrote, "I think I'm doing this with love," but I changed it, because I am.  I constantly tell kids that I love them, and they tell me.  When asked how I find Bethlehem, I always respond, "Bethlehem helu ikteer.  Behebo hone."  (Bethlehem is very beautiful.  I love it here.)  I'm in love with my work, as difficult and trying as it is.  I love the people.  I love the landscapes.  I love the food.  I love the way they kiss 'hello.'  I love that they welcome me here, and love me.  

One of the kindergartener's moms saw me at church this morning.  I had just said good morning to her daughter, who just sort of stared at me.  Kids here either pretend like they don't know me or they're all over me outside of school.  It was the former.  I looked up at her mom and shrugged.  Her mom, without any prodding, said, "They love you, Miss Merry.  So much!"  And I love them.

That was a somewhat disjointed blog post, and with no cultural significance, but they were thoughts I wanted to share.  

With all my love,

Meredith