A passage so familiar that it has nearly become a bit twee: Love is patient, love is kind.

So I invite you to look again, to look wholeheartedly on the familiar verses of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

No matter how glorious, impressive, beautiful, or successful a thing or a person may be, if the spirit of love is absent- it is empty, hollow, worthless, says Paul, (1 Cor 13:1-3) who then goes on to paint a picture for us of the nature of Divine love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

I invite you to listen to the passage three times: considering God’s love for you on the first reading, your love for yourself on the second, and your love for another on the third.

This is not a measuring stick, it is an invitation, it is a direction of travel.

May you be patient with yourself, may you be kind to yourself. Divine love is being poured out in and through you at each moment of each day. May you have the grace to receive it more deeply, more humbly, each day.

EVERY BLESSING LOVES xxx

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer – space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God’s love for you today – drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

For more information and show notes please visit www.contemplativeathome.com or find us on Facebook.

All music by Pete Hatch. petehatch.com.