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Morning Meditation
Saturday, March 21, 2026
Thomas Ken - Bishop and non-Juror (1711)
Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Meditation by Jeremy O’Neill
If this passage is familiar to you because you heard it read at a wedding, you are not alone. It is certainly the most popular epistle selection for marriage liturgies. It is also popular at funerals, as it captures the enduring nature of a love that is stronger than death. I believe this passage is meant to be about more than describing a strong sentiment. It is about more than what advertisements for jewelry or chocolates on Valentine’s Day would suggest. The love described here literally changes everything. It calls us to be the fullest, most authentic versions of ourselves. It might even scare us or make us uncomfortable at times.
What I find particularly notable about this text is that St. Paul refutes an over-emphasis on knowledge or faith. This is presumably the same author who wrote extended theological discourses and told communities in far off places that he could boast about the strength of his faith. But love is the emphasis here, even more so than faith that can move mountains. When we love deeply, we get a glimpse of God’s dreams for us. We also get a glimpse of how God thinks of us, as beautifully made and deeply loved.
Former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is known for his discourse on love. In many of his sermons, he asks the listeners to dare to imagine a world where love is the way. It is easy to say, harder to understand, and even more difficult to implement. What if this world was controlled by the pursuit of love rather than the pursuit of capital or power?
Maybe we can look forward to a world where love comes first. Maybe we can work to choose love in ourselves and choose love in our communities. And hopefully we can remember that our Creator loves us infinitely more than we could ever ask or imagine.
Prayer
Almighty God, we entrust all who are dear to us to your never-failing care and love, for this life and the life to come, knowing that you are doing for them better things than we can desire or pray for; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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