Love Revisited
By True Anathema ~
The love chapter (I Corinthians 13) takes on a whole new meaning for me these days. The trappings of religion are nothing…these being tongues, prophecy, even preaching. Love is the measure. If one measures love by defining it as God, there might be a problem here. If one measures love as defined by the depth from which actions toward a fellow human being spring, when those actions seek his or her freedom, peace and well being, then love turns all else into vanity.
Verse three states, “If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” If this verse is true, then those who seek solely to build the kingdom of God gain nothing. If I sacrifice truly for the well being of another: to be the voice of the oppressed, to make sure the poor have food and shelter and do it not for any type of gain, that is the reward.
Faith does not remain…that is gone. But I have hope and love. If love always protects and always perseveres, this means that it protects all, no matter their sexual orientation or religious beliefs. Can the gospel boast this? It cannot. The love of the gospel of Christ, as lived out through churches today, protects their own, perseveres to build the kingdom and nothing else.
Today, I am no longer a child. I believed childish things, such as creation in six days, 6 million years ago. There is no garden, no talking snake, no woman who brought sin to all mankind and shame to all womankind. There is no heaven, no hell, no eternal punishment and no eternal reward. There is the question of the origin of life, and precious little time to embark on the incredible journey of finding the answers to that question.
I will always see as in a mirror dimly and will never know the answers to all mysteries when I die. This is strangely comforting, because I know that if I persevere to secure the freedom for a person to question and find their own way, my daughter may have more answers some day then I do know, and her children and their children, if they decide to have families.
Faith does not remain…that is gone. But I have hope and love. Hope for a future where there is no fear, no gods and no masters. I have love for the life I have now and am extremely grateful that I came to this unbelieving part of my journey before it was too late.
Verse three states, “If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” If this verse is true, then those who seek solely to build the kingdom of God gain nothing. If I sacrifice truly for the well being of another: to be the voice of the oppressed, to make sure the poor have food and shelter and do it not for any type of gain, that is the reward.
Faith does not remain…that is gone. But I have hope and love. If love always protects and always perseveres, this means that it protects all, no matter their sexual orientation or religious beliefs. Can the gospel boast this? It cannot. The love of the gospel of Christ, as lived out through churches today, protects their own, perseveres to build the kingdom and nothing else.
Today, I am no longer a child. I believed childish things, such as creation in six days, 6 million years ago. There is no garden, no talking snake, no woman who brought sin to all mankind and shame to all womankind. There is no heaven, no hell, no eternal punishment and no eternal reward. There is the question of the origin of life, and precious little time to embark on the incredible journey of finding the answers to that question.
I will always see as in a mirror dimly and will never know the answers to all mysteries when I die. This is strangely comforting, because I know that if I persevere to secure the freedom for a person to question and find their own way, my daughter may have more answers some day then I do know, and her children and their children, if they decide to have families.
Faith does not remain…that is gone. But I have hope and love. Hope for a future where there is no fear, no gods and no masters. I have love for the life I have now and am extremely grateful that I came to this unbelieving part of my journey before it was too late.
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