Love

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4-13.   Love is patient, love is kind....It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails....For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

It is wonderful to stop by the St. John's Bible on the way to my daughter's hospital room to see what words are illuminated at the moment. This was the chapter presented as I joined her after she got The Call three days ago for a liver transplant (just one week after she was listed).  It reminded me that we know only a fraction of the immensity of love. A family agreed to share the amazing gifts they had the power to give as they powerlessly lost a loved one. Because of that love, and a surgical team's miraculous skills, my daughter has been given restoration. We did indeed give ourselves over to trust,  perseverance, and hope in this journey. Her liver had been damaged by a blood clot and infection, and her only hope was a (fourth) liver transplant. A chaplain asked her yesterday about what gives her hope. She described the personal relationship with her faith that guides her. It is a combination of many elements, but it is distinctly void of fear. In this period of her illness during the last few months, I have always been able to find support from others to replace my fear with love. Fear can deplete us. Love restores us and keeps us open to miracles. I cannot fathom the wonders I am witnessing, but I can give thanks and try to honor them.

Prayer: God of all blessings, source of all life, giver of all grace: we thank you for the gift of life...for the love of family and friends without which there would be no life. We thank you for the mystery of creation...for the unknown that we cannot behold, filling the universe with wonder; for the expanse of space that draws us beyond the definitions of ourselves. We thank you...for families...for friends...who share our burdens and daily tasks, for strangers who welcome us into their midst, for people from other lands who call us to grow in understanding....We thank you for this day; for one more experience of your presence, for your promise: to be with us, to be our God.... Amen. (Vienna Cobbs Anderson)

Mollie Manner                           mmanner@nebrwesleyan.edu