Letting Love Flow

The second point is that love never puts itself first. The basic human instinct is self preservation. This instinct goes deep and evolutionary theory shows it to be an important part of human development. But love is one part of human behavior where we do not put ourselves first. “We bear all things” for each other. We keep no score of wrongs. In friendships based on love we give our friends a break, the benefit of the doubt, we overlook slights. On the other hand, we do not overlook abuse or violence or injustice, but seek justice for others. And as we seek to serve others, we find that it remakes us as well, and what builds others up, builds us up. Love, like water, flows through us.

And finally, love is that which endures. All other gifts and possessions and achievements pass away. Even mountains come to an end, all the wisdom we gain in our lives, our faith and hope. Nothing ultimately lasts; for hope is not longer necessary once we die and find the consummation of our hopes. Our faith does not outlive us, except perhaps in the memories of others. But love endures. The chain reaction of our loving acts continue to grow and continue in others. The love that flows through us to others continues to flow through those others, to yet other people and other creatures. Even animals can be influenced by our love. Look at guide dogs, trained to love and care. That love and trust is transferred to their new owners, even if the trainer is dead. In a sense, the love of Jesus, or Paul, or my grandmother, is still flowing. It endures. And God’s love, experienced by us from others, and from creation, and from mystical experience, endures and is indeed, I trust and believe, eternal. After all human life is gone, which I assume someday it will be, God will continue and God’s love will endure in creating other life, and other channels for compassion and love.

This is the key – that love is the basic nature of God, and is, therefore, the basic nature of life and of human life. When we say, God is love, we are also saying that the image of God that is in us, is love.

In Medieval art, Faith, Hope and Love, the three virtues from I Corinthians 13, are often depicted as women, perhaps angels. They show up symbolically in various paintings. I was reading about one this week in my research, by El Greco, the Modena Triptych. It is panel he painted in 1568. It shows the three women, Faith, Hope and Love in the foreground (I looked it up on the Internet). Love stands out, for El Greco, as with many artists, depicted Love standing with children wrapped around her legs and gathered around her feet. Love, unlike Faith and Hope, is surrounded by her offspring. Love’s children, her offspring, her descendents are too numerous to count.

If we take this seriously, and consider that of all our human achievements and creations, children and descendents, possessions; our buildings, and art, our wisdom and philosophy, of all that people create, only love finally endures. This might change our planning and our goals, and how we allow love to flow through our lives. We might reorder our lives and our stewardship. There is a part of us that is eternal, it is love.