Virtue: Love
Resolution: I choose to love God with my whole being and my neighbor as myself, especially my enemy.

Human Story: John Goldingay (1942 - )

As a young adult, John Goldingay had dreams similar to others his age: find a job, get married, and start a family. He knew he wanted to go into ministry, and he had a deep love for the scriptures. 

John found his partner, and her name was Ann. They met at a student conference in England at the age of 19. Ann was a medical student, lively and full of energy, and John was a theology student, admittedly quirky yet adventurous. In April 1966, at the age of 22, Ann developed a limp as she walked. As a medical student, Ann’s guess was eventually confirmed: multiple sclerosis (MS). The symptoms of her “attack” subsided after a few weeks. John recalls how close they felt to God and each other during this time, and they were soon engaged. A few months before the wedding, Ann had another attack from the MS, which affected her vision, resulting in a short-term hospital stay. During this stay, a nurse told Ann she had no business getting married and having children with this disease. These words, though disheartening, emboldened Ann. She ended up having 2 sons, and not only did she finish medical school, but she also finished a residency in psychiatry.

The disease was progressive, however, and Ann continued to show symptoms in her early adult life. The symptoms initially were physical but soon became cognitive. By the age of 44, she could no longer perform her job and was asked to retire. Around the age of 55, Ann eventually lost the ability to walk, talk, and eat. Little by little, John had to provide increasing care for Ann.

John always made his decisions with Ann in mind. In fact, John called Ann’s presence her “ministry,” and would often bring her on campus, to chapel, and invite students over so Ann could practice her ministry. John would find out years later the impact Ann’s presence had on the lives of students. According to one testimony, “Ann teaches me that to be human is to experience vulnerability, weakness and fragility. She invites me to embrace all of my humanity; the strong, stable parts along with the weak, fragile ones.” John was not trying to be a hero. In his memoir to Ann, John said: “We aren’t trying to give some Christian witness to the nature of marriage. We are just being married. What else could we do? But if it comes across as countercultural in a positive way, I am grateful that you (Ann) make me do it.”

Ann eventually succumbed to a complication from her illness at the age of 65. Throughout most of their marriage, love was not a response to an easy life. Love was a hard struggle. John sacrificed for her, protected her, honored her, and persevered for her (1 Cor. 13:7). In the end, John’s long-lasting testimony was the love he showed Ann.

Reference: Goldingay, John. Remembering Ann. Piquant Editions.

Lesson: 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NRSV)

[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

You probably recognize this verse from what is arguably the most well-known chapter of all of Paul’s writings. The love chapter in his letter to the church in Corinth is recited in weddings and sung in songs. I remember an assignment to memorize it as a young teen. A phrase from this chapter is inscribed in my wedding band, “Love never fails.” But why did Paul address this discussion of what love is to the church that he labored so hard to establish?

From Paul’s letter, we know the church in Corinth was experiencing several problems, one of which was arguments over spiritual gifts. People were being boastful about their gifts and squabbling over which gifts were greater. Paul explains earlier in his letter that the different gifts work together as parts of a body. He caps off the discussion with the love chapter, stating that without love, the gifts are meaningless. Love will last forever. Love is paramount.

So how do we develop a love in our lives that believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things? Life experiences give us lessons and tests our response to love all the time. Sometimes it comes through an interruption in our plans, sometimes it is through a choice we need to make, etc. With the help of God’s Spirit, we can grow love in our life. When we reject love, we risk bitterness, pettiness, and cynicism. For me, a current lesson is caring for my aging parents, with varying stages of dementia, much sooner than I had ever expected, yet, I know that God is using this experience to grow love in my life.

Remembrance

Love Made Visible by Beth Fritsch (from Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr)

An artist would sculpt or paint you and make of you an image
worthy of a gaze
intent enough
to behold all of your wonder in just one glance.
A poet would fashion you into a sonnet or a cinquain,
an ode or a sestina,
or maybe a ghazal
with just enough words to utter you in,
to proclaim you forth, sweetly.
But I have only this work here, day after day,
to attend
and out of this daily drudgery must lift
tired hands
and pull you
out of sheer possibility,
a task so difficult that
some days
my open heart
gapes
and nothing but the swish of
the Spirit’s breath moving through me could ever energize this effort enough to call it a masterpiece.

Challenge

When Mother Teresa received the Nobel Prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She replied, "Go home and love your family." Many of us have lofty aspirations of being world-changers, but perhaps world change begins with learning to love and be loved healthily in our own families. Consider how you can put your family first this week, above other competing obligations of work or extracurricular activities.

Reflection

Reflect on this quote from John Goldingay and discuss the implications with someone close to you. Does anyone come to mind when God's image is explained in this way?

In lecturing on Genesis, I discuss what Ann’s being made in God’s image tells us about God’s image. Genesis suggests that humanity was made in God’s image in order to share in governing the world on God’s behalf, and disabled people share in that; so they draw our attention to the way poverty, vulnerability, and weakness can have a mysterious power to move and transform, and they remind us how activity occupied God only for six days, not for seven; we are Godlike by inactivity as well as by activity.

Further Growth

2023: 2nd to last Sunday in Epiphany (World Mission)

Old Testament: Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm: Psalm 67
New Testament: Acts 1:1-8
Gospel: Matthew 9:35-38

2022: 6th Sunday in Epiphany

Old Testament: Jeremiah 17:5-10
Psalm: Psalm 1
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Gospel: Luke 6:17-26

2021: 6th Sunday in Epiphany

Old Testament: 2 Kings 5:1-15a
Psalm: Psalm 42
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Gospel: Mark 1:40-45

2020: 6th Sunday in Epiphany

Old Testament: Ecclesiasticus 15:11-12 * apocryphal text
Psalm: Psalm 119:1-16
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Gospel: Matthew 5:21-37