Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.... This is from Saint Paul's famous something somewhere in the Bible that is ever quoted, particularly at weddings, with the word "charity" now being translated to read "love."
According to me, that translation is a mistake...flat wrong actually.
First off, I'm guessing Saint Paul had both words, love and charity, in his vocabulary at the time so if he had meant love, he would have used love. He meant charity. Again, I'm guessing...or I say I'm guessing but I do believe.
My reasoning is that charity requires us to reach...to dig just to come to accept the word in its deepest reaches. Love on the other hand...who's going to badmouth love? Who's going to resist getting and giving love? It's almost become a throwaway word...we talk of loving a new pair of shoes. Try feeling charitable toward those new shoes when a blister forms on our heel after first wearing them.
Really, if we're looking to love our enemy, or to love our neighbor as our self (both of which are equally hard, enemy just sounds tougher), we are going to need to get a whole lot closer to charity...to doing it, not just saying, doing.
Charity is the base, the kindergarten of our learning the art of giving over. This is where we learn how to let go of our own wants which masquerade as needs...always and all ways. Charity is the golden goose that tells us not to be as nasty as we want to be.
Done right, charity shows us how to pushback without resistance. And there it is...our proof that with God all things are possible. Without God, pushback without resistance is just another blister on our heel...impossible to love.
Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment