Wednesday, November 12
Faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
—1 Corinthians 13:13
I am not Seventh Day Adventist, but all of our children were born in a Seventh Day Adventist hospital that both brought them into life and saved the life of my wife. I am not a Quaker, but my parents are, and from them I have learned the power of presence.
When they are gathered in a circle of silence, and the kids come bounding up the stairs from Sunday school and into the circle, I had thought the disruption would surely bring the service to an end. But that is not what happened. Instead, they found their parents, sat beside them or on their laps, and were utterly silent.
I am not Methodist, but a
Methodist hospital once saved my life. Nor am I an
Episcopalian,
but an Episcopal hospital did the same thing after my first heart attack.
When it was time for rehabilitation, it was a Catholic hospital that
said, "Come here and we will bless your return to life." I am not Muslim,
but the Sufi maxim that asks us to "love the water more, the pitcher less" has
become a
helpful way to guide my thoughts and prayers.
The list goes
on and on. I suspect it is the same for you. If the water is life,
and the pitcher is the
way we carry it, it is understandable that our priorities might become
skewed. We want to make sure the pitcher doesn't leak. We want to
make sure it is unbreakable, that it is large enough to not run dry after
blessing a family or a congregation.
We might want to make sure it is
dignified, that its
colors are pleasing, and that we know where to store it. We might even end
up saying, "This is the pitcher" that must be used and "this is how you carry
it." At the expense of the water, we
become imprisoned by our understanding of the pitcher.
It
might be tempting to say, "Let's not worry about the pitcher at all." But
if we go that way, we
may haphazardly carry precious water. We must love both the pitcher and
the water. But, in the end, we must love the water more.
Faith, hope and love are three of its life-giving streams.
God of life, you give us healing water to carry and share. We do so trusting in faith that it is your water; hoping that you will abide with us; and thanking you for reminding us that you are Love. Amen.
