Love is patient, Love is kind,
slow to anger, free of pride,
never ever fails,
though we go wrong
it bears all things
believes all things
lifts up the truth,
it’s redemption song
Without Love by Peter Mayer
I simply love Peter’s song, Without Love. It is based
on 1 Corinthians 13. On Sunday night as the candles were burning, while the
Stars and Promises Tour Band was “doing their thing” we were treated to hearing
Chris on piano, Peter on guitar and Brenda and Andrea on vocals. One of the
very cool things is that the concert was in our sanctuary, a place were all the
major life events have taken place, from baptisms to funerals, with
confirmations and weddings sprinkled in for good measure.
I find church (and I’m not just talking about the physical
building here) as a place which can be very welcoming, but also at times
judgmental and rather exclusive. I have shared with people before that the
following two statements are true for me:
1. I have never felt any place to be
more welcoming than church
2. I have never felt such loneliness
than at church
Wow, how does that work or not work? And yet, maybe you’ve
felt that same way as well. The very people who are called to “love one
another” sometimes fight with each other over things which in the grand scheme
of things appear to be rather petty and insignificant. Because church is a
human institution and by that I mean it is full of humans it does not always
take the lead on loving.
So, on Sunday night as we heard this song and felt the “light
of love”, I know people in the congregation were thinking about the grieving
families in Newtown, CT. I know people were feeling the call to be more
inclusive and less exclusive. I am aware that women and men were crying because
they know being the giver or recipient of anger, pride as things go wrong.
One of my favorite paintings at the National Gallery is
“Mystic Nativity.”
I like to go and stand in front of it and it’s as if
the angels are doing some kind of circular “holy hoedown.” The room almost
spins because of them. And it’s all happening because LIGHT is coming into the
world because Love is being born anew.
Love is patient, Love is kind,
slow to anger, free of pride,
never ever fails,
though we go wrong
it bears all things
believes all things
lifts up the truth,
it’s redemption song
Without Love by Peter Mayer
rtg
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