NOISY GONGS AND CLANGING CYMBALS
If I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or clanging cymbal…love is patient and kind…love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends... So now faith, hope, and love abide – but the greatest of these is love.
Selected portions of 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ESV
I recently read a book entitled Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times, which was on the United Women in Faith/United Methodist Women reading list. It was written by Bishop Michael Curry with Sara Grace in 2020. Bishop Curry is serving as the 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church. He received world-wide attention when he gave the homily at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. The book expands on what Bishop Curry said in that homily.
The book’s premise is that the opposite of love is not hate. Love looks outward to the good of others, so its opposite is selfishness - a life completely centered inward on oneself. Hate and indifference are only symptoms of selfishness. The Primate goes on to declare that, at present, the world is full of selfishness.
Whether it is the invasion of Ukraine, gun violence in the City of Brotherly Love, or partisan political divisions throughout the United States, it seems to me that Bishop Curry hits the nail on the head - the root cause can be traced to those whose lives are inward looking and selfish, not loving and outward looking. He says that while love builds up, selfishness destroys and knocks down. Love is God’s way, the moral way and the only thing that ultimately carries out God’s plan for the world. When Jesus said to love those who curse you, he was offering the way to change any negative situation into a positive one.
Lord Jesus, You call us to let the light of our love shine. May we be reminded of that calling each day. Help us to overcome life’s noisy gongs, clanging cymbals, and selfish people with the positive impact of Your love. Amen.
Carol Rice
