If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. – 1 Corinthians 13:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 13, 2018): 1 Corinthians 13

Edward Wood, the 1^st Earl of Halifax, said that “True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes.” If you have to keep on proclaiming you credentials or leaning on your education, then maybe you cannot do the job you are attempting to complete. Some would argue that without declaring your expertise to the world, no one will know what you can do; that we are noisy because we think we are advertising our competence in our area of expertise. Maybe, but I think that Wood might reply that if we have merit, the noise we are creating advertising our talent would be unnecessary.

But if true merit is quiet, love is even quieter. Love often seems to go unnoticed, until it has somehow been removed and we are forced to go through life without it. It is then that we find that love has been speaking in a loud voice, we have just been deaf to her instructions.

I have to admit that the idea of love presented by Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians has always challenged me, probably because I live in a world of noise. The question, in this case, is simple. What is it that is the proof of the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life? Is it the ability to speak in tongues? Many people that I am or have been in contact with would say yes. Yet, I am not convinced, partially because of Paul’s words here. Faking speaking in tongues is relatively easy. Is it the ability to produce miracles? Maybe, but I know many miracle workers who would never argue that they are in possession of the Holy Spirit of God. These ideas just form the noise of our religious thought. I am convinced that the proof of the Holy Spirit’s activity in our lives is wrapped up in how we love and how consistently it is that we love. Do we love some or do we love all? Do we love just when things are going right, or is love so pervasive in our lives that love even when it is hard to love? It is into these quiet moments of God that the Holy Spirit begins to speak. It is loving in the hard moments of life in which the power of the Holy Spirit is revealed. If I love, it is not because of me. It is because of the Holy Spirit inside of me.

So, I aim to live in this quiet love of the Holy Spirit. I have decided not to chase after the gifts that others may believe is proof of the Spirit in my life. It is not that I don’t desire them because I do. And maybe, once I get this love thing down, there will be time to chase after these other noises. Maybe, but I somehow doubt it. I want to be perfected in love, to love so much that there is no room for anything else in my life. And I think that sounds like a long and tough road. My prayer needs to remain - God, let the noise of this world and the noise of my faith pass me by. Teach me to love as you love, and that will be enough for me.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 14