March 9: The Greatest of These is Love
♫ Music:
Day 25 - Saturday, March 09
Title: THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NKJV)
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Poetry & Poet:
“The Truelove”
by David Whyte
There is a faith in loving fiercely
the one who is rightfully yours
especially if you have
waited years and especially
if part of you never believed
you could deserve this
loved and beckoning hand
held out to you this way.
I am thinking of faith now
and the testaments of loneliness
and what we feel we are
worthy of in this world.
Years ago in the Hebrides
I remember an old man
who walked every morning
on the grey stones
to the shore of baying seals
who would press his hat
to his chest in the blustering
salt wind and say his prayer
to the turbulent Jesus
hidden in the water
and I think of the story
of the storm and everyone
waking and seeing
the distant
yet familiar figure
far across the water
calling to them
and how we are all
preparing for that
abrupt waking,
and that calling,
and that moment
we have to say yes,
except it will
not come so grandly
so Biblically
but more subtly
and intimately in the face
of the one you know
you have to love
so that when
we finally step out of the boat
toward them, we find
everything holds
us, and everything confirms
our courage, and if you wanted
to drown you could,
but you don't
because finally
after all this struggle
and all these years
you don't want to any more
you've simply had enough
of drowning
and you want to live and you
want to love and you will
walk across any territory
and any darkness
however fluid and however
dangerous to take the
one hand you know
belongs in yours.
THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE
Scripture seems to make a big deal about love. Love, according to 1 Corinthians 13, includes both action and inaction. It is not a feeling, but rather a doing. Jesus talks about love frequently and elevates love to be the greatest action we can do. In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus states, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” As I hold the greatest commandment in my mind, I see that there are three components to the action of love––loving God, loving your neighbor, and loving yourself. Jesus seems to be asking us to love quite a bit. In Scripture, and in practice, they all seem to depend upon one another. We can only love out of a love that we have received from God (1 John 4:7-21).
Neuropsychologist Donald Hebb stated that “Neurons that fire together, wire together.” This principle has been researched quite a bit, especially as we look at how habits are formed. As we consider this principle in habituating love, in the actions and inactions that are required to love, we might conclude that the more we act kindly, patiently, rejoice in the truth, and so on, the easier it gets. Additionally, the more we resist being rude, boastful, rejoicing in others suffering, and so on, the easier it gets. The more we act out the components of love, the more hardwired it gets in our brains and bodies. We have been given a roadmap in Scripture in how to do “the greatest” of things, which is love.
Every night before my kids go to bed, I sing to them, and I scratch their backs until they fall asleep. My mom did the same for me, every night. Her mom did something similar. This act of love has been passed down. We all hold within us an inheritance from our parents and our grandparents on how to love, and how to not love. Scripture speaks to both generational blessings (1 Timothy 1:15, Psalm 112, Exodus 20:5-6) and generational curses (34:7). As I take in 1 Corinthians 13, and how it instructs us in loving others, myself, and God, I see it as a way to bless not just my generational line, but as a way to experience God.
Perhaps you might want to reflect on the inheritance you have received in how to love. Who taught you what it looks like to love yourself, love others, and love God? What components of love come easily to you? Which components are more difficult? Open to the Lord in these things.
Prayer
Lord, we love imperfectly. You, however, have given us perfect love. Guide us as we go from childlike love, to mature love. We give you praise for Your instruction on how to love, both in what to do, and in what not to do. With all the love that I can muster, in its imperfect form, Lord, I love you.
Amen.
Berry Bishop Psy.D.
Director, MFT Program
Assistant Professor
Institute for Spiritual Formation
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Art:
Love
Robert Indiana
1970
Cor-ten steel
144 x 144 x 72 in.
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Robert Indiana’s iconic image LOVE was first created in 1964 in the form of a card which he sent to several friends and acquaintances. In 1965, Indiana was invited to propose an artwork to be featured on the Museum of Modern Art's annual Christmas card. Indiana submitted several twelve-inch square, oil-on-canvas variations based on his LOVE image. The museum selected the most intense color combination, and it became one of the most popular cards the museum has ever offered. In 1970, Indiana completed his first monumental LOVE sculpture in cor-ten steel. Over the past four years, Indiana's LOVE sculpture has undergone a major overhaul to secure its structural integrity. With the structural repairs now successfully completed, the Indianapolis Museum of Art is taking the final steps to restore its surface appearance by exposing the clean cor-ten steel to the weather outside––transforming the work’s surface from silver to a variegated purplish brown patina with iridescent overtones.
About the Artist:
Robert Indiana (1928–2018) was an American artist and one of the preeminent figures in American art in the 1960s. Indiana played a central role in the development of assemblage art, hard-edge painting, and pop art. A self-proclaimed “American painter of signs,” he created a highly original body of work that explores American identity, personal history, and the power of abstraction and language, establishing an important legacy that informs the work of many contemporary artists who use the written word as a central element of their oeuvre. In addition to being a painter and sculptor, Indiana made posters and prints and designed stage sets and costumes for the Virgil Thompson and Gertrude Stein opera The Mother of Us All. Indiana's artwork has been featured in numerous exhibitions around the world and is included in the permanent collections of many major museums including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Indiana
https://www.robertindiana.com/artist
About the Music:
“Love (1 Corinthians 13)” (Single)
Lyrics:
Although I speak in tongues
Of men and angels
I'm just sounding brass
And tinkling cymbals without love
Love suffers long
Love is kind!
Enduring all things
Love has no evil in mind
If I had the gift of prophecy
And all the knowledge
And the faith to move the mountains
Even if I understood all of the mysteries
If I didn't have love
I'd be nothing
Love never looks for love
Love's not puffed up
Or envious
Or touchy
Because it rejoices in the truth
Not in iniquity
Love sees like a child sees
As a child I spoke as a child
I thought and I understood as a child
But when I became a woman
I put away childish things
And began to see through a glass darkly
Where as a child I saw it face to face
Now I only know it in part
Fractions in me
Of faith and hope and love
And of these great three
Love's the greatest beauty
Love
Love
Love
About the Performer:
Joni Mitchell (b. 1943) is a Canadian American singer-songwriter and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music scene, Mitchell became known for her personal lyrics and unconventional compositions, which grew to incorporate pop and jazz elements. She has received many accolades, including ten Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever,” and AllMusic has stated, "When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century.” Settling in Southern California, Mitchell helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock.” Her 1971 album Blue is often cited as one of the best albums of all time—it was rated the thirtieth best album ever made in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” rising to number three in the 2020 edition. Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she melded jazz with rock and roll, R & B, classical music, and non-Western beats. Mitchell produced or co-produced most of her albums and designed most of her own album covers, describing herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance.”
https://jonimitchell.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Mitchell
About the Poetry and Poet:
David Whyte (b. 1955) is an Anglo-Irish poet. He has said that all of his poetry and philosophy are based on "the conversational nature of reality.” His book The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America (1994) topped the bestseller charts in the United States. Whyte has a degree in marine zoology from Bangor University. During his twenties, Whyte worked as a naturalist and lived in the Galápagos Islands and also led anthropological and natural history expeditions in the Andes, the Amazon, and the Himalayas. In 1981, he moved to the United States, where he began a career as a poet and speaker. Whyte has written ten volumes of poetry and four books of prose. He has an honorary degree from Neumann College, Pennsylvania, and from Royal Roads University, British Columbia, and is associate fellow of both Templeton College, Oxford, and Said Business School, Oxford.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Whyte_(poet)
About the Devotion Writer:
Berry Bishop Psy.D.
Director, MFT Program
Assistant Professor
Institute for Spiritual Formation
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
Berry Bishop is the director of the MFT Program at Talbot. Bishop graduated from Talbot with a Master of Arts in spiritual formation and soul care, and then obtained her doctorate in psychology from Azusa Pacific University. Her primary research interest is in the area of trauma and spiritual direction. In addition to teaching, she continues to practice as a clinical psychologist.