If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecyand can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 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.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
During the week of my anniversary and my daughter’s birthday, the Perseid meteor shower decorates the night sky. It’s absolutely beautiful. We went for the first time when I was pregnant with Amelia 2 years ago. Last year the full moon happened to fall on the same week, though, so we were unable to see it well. This year, we drove far out from the city. We could see no light from anywhere around aside from the occasional car that drove by. We sat out there for over an hour watching the stars shoot across the sky. It was magnificent.
For me, an hour or two watching the night sky will hold me over for quite some time. I enjoy it thoroughly but it’s not something I long to see. Sunsets are what take my breath away. You could watch the sunset every night and never see the same thing twice. It’s always something new. My husband, however, loves to watch the stars. He likes to find constellations and look at star charts and dream about those other places. I asked him one time why he liked the stars so much and his answer kind of surprised me. I was expecting “They’re pretty to look at.” or “There’s lots of other galaxies and worlds out there.” Instead, he said “They don’t change. What else in this world can we watch night after night over a millennium and track so exactly? What else is so constant other than who God is than the heavens? There are few other things so certain as where the stars are.” I had no response. The heavens are constant. They remain the same through the ages. God hung them there for the purpose of marking off time. For us to watch and know. That is magnificent.
These three remain: faith, hope, and love. These things remain the same through the ages. Faith, hope, and love are apart of the human experience. No matter the decade, no matter the era. Faith, hope, and love remain. Amen.
Mom's Going to Madagascar 