Love never fails. Three diminutive words that dropped into my thirsty soul, filling my soul’s bucket again with hope, faith and joy.
I had been in two minds about attending the mid-week evening production. My day was already long and my energy was spent as I’d attended to the distress of others in my day job. I sat transfixed, however, at the end of my row near the back as Alan Shore brought to life the ponderings and life of the Apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus, now the chosen vessel. Alan, a man from Chosen People Ministries was in New Zealand from the USA. He performed his single person rendition only twice, one of these at Holy Trinity in Greymouth.
I am so glad I dragged myself along!
Paul, dressed in an unadorned earthen-coloured tunic and robe, feet simply sandalled, entered the stage to take his place with a solitary candle in hand. He was watching through the crack in his dungeon wall for the early morning light and listening for the approach of his harsh Roman guards with eager anticipation. This day was like no other for it was today they would accompany him to his martyr’s death. As he watched and listened he enthused "for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). The relief portrayed in his voice was palpable, and yet strangely foreign to our ears – we who cling to this life so fiercely, losing sight of the glorious life to come.
Knowingly approaching the end of life is surely a time to ponder the life lived. This was what Paul did over the next 45 minutes, sharing and interacting with his spellbound audience in conversational style. There were moments of poignancy, humour, and wistful remembering as his Jewish background, dramatic conversion and unwavering faith came alive. Faithful to the Scriptural record, and filled with familiar passages that made sense in a whole new way, we were let in to the inner world of Paul, his struggles, his humanity, and his passion.
It was as Alan conversationally quoted the thirteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in perfect context, that I heard these three words in fresh ways:
You see, sometimes I struggle when life doesn’t seem to make sense. A sudden change in circumstances that cuts me to the core and grief pours in, or pain colours the way and all I thought I knew gets suddenly scrambled. I stand beside another in their pain praying earnestly for God to redeem the situation, and the outcome is not what either of us had hoped for, and I have questions! Questions with no answers.
I wrestle with God. "Lord, I didn’t sign up for this!"
He’s right, of course. Slowly, it dawns on me that I don’t need to do this "love no matter what" alone, because he who has loved me completely, no matter what, stands waiting to resource me with all I need to love in the same way. So, in my own simple way, I offer him the messiness and the mystery, hands outstretched as though holding it all in an overfull bowl, and I breathe, "I can’t, Lord, but you can."
As I ponder again the words of Paul, the chosen vessel, reminding me that all else is worthless without love, I am convinced that love is the only plan I need. My soul is restored, my bucket filled. I know deep to my core, that love – when I don’t understand it, when I want it to be different, when I’m lost or alone or afraid, when others don’t get it – is completely enough. Because love never fails.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
Love never fails. Three diminutive words that dropped into my thirsty soul, filling my soul’s bucket again with hope, faith and joy.
I had been in two minds about attending the mid-week evening production. My day was already long and my energy was spent as I’d attended to the distress of others in my day job. I sat transfixed, however, at the end of my row near the back as Alan Shore brought to life the ponderings and life of the Apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus, now the chosen vessel. Alan, a man from Chosen People Ministries was in New Zealand from the USA. He performed his single person rendition only twice, one of these at Holy Trinity in Greymouth.
I am so glad I dragged myself along!
Paul, dressed in an unadorned earthen-coloured tunic and robe, feet simply sandalled, entered the stage to take his place with a solitary candle in hand. He was watching through the crack in his dungeon wall for the early morning light and listening for the approach of his harsh Roman guards with eager anticipation. This day was like no other for it was today they would accompany him to his martyr’s death. As he watched and listened he enthused "for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). The relief portrayed in his voice was palpable, and yet strangely foreign to our ears – we who cling to this life so fiercely, losing sight of the glorious life to come.
Knowingly approaching the end of life is surely a time to ponder the life lived. This was what Paul did over the next 45 minutes, sharing and interacting with his spellbound audience in conversational style. There were moments of poignancy, humour, and wistful remembering as his Jewish background, dramatic conversion and unwavering faith came alive. Faithful to the Scriptural record, and filled with familiar passages that made sense in a whole new way, we were let in to the inner world of Paul, his struggles, his humanity, and his passion.
It was as Alan conversationally quoted the thirteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in perfect context, that I heard these three words in fresh ways:
You see, sometimes I struggle when life doesn’t seem to make sense. A sudden change in circumstances that cuts me to the core and grief pours in, or pain colours the way and all I thought I knew gets suddenly scrambled. I stand beside another in their pain praying earnestly for God to redeem the situation, and the outcome is not what either of us had hoped for, and I have questions! Questions with no answers.
I wrestle with God. "Lord, I didn’t sign up for this!"
He’s right, of course. Slowly, it dawns on me that I don’t need to do this "love no matter what" alone, because he who has loved me completely, no matter what, stands waiting to resource me with all I need to love in the same way. So, in my own simple way, I offer him the messiness and the mystery, hands outstretched as though holding it all in an overfull bowl, and I breathe, "I can’t, Lord, but you can."
As I ponder again the words of Paul, the chosen vessel, reminding me that all else is worthless without love, I am convinced that love is the only plan I need. My soul is restored, my bucket filled. I know deep to my core, that love – when I don’t understand it, when I want it to be different, when I’m lost or alone or afraid, when others don’t get it – is completely enough. Because love never fails.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
