1 Corinthians 13: A Familiar Bible Passage

I am putting a familiar Bible passage out there for navigating the rough waters social media stir up.  It’s a map I need to memorize and follow when I read what some post about current events. Maybe it will help you.

Navigating the choppy waters social media foments*

Most all of us have heard 1 Corinthians 13, especially at weddings.   Who knew it might help me navigate the hard issues that keep erupting on social  media about the pandemic and election?

Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that love will outlast even their faith and hope. They lived in interesting times, too; just like ours.

I reread the passage  in the Phillips translation, one  that may not be as lofty as the familiar King James version, but it is plainer. I need “plain” in these days! Maybe you do, too.

Editing the Passage

At the end of each sentence, I inserted during a pandemic, or a hotly contested election — because this where things are getting choppy. The editing helps me steer a steadier course.

. . . This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience– it looks for a way of being constructive, during a pandemic, or a hotly contested election.  

It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance during a pandemic, or a hotly contested election.

^5-6 Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage, during a pandemic, or a hotly contested election.

  It is not touchy, during a pandemic, or a hotly contested election.

 It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people, especially during a pandemic, or a hotly contested election.

On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails, during a pandemic, or a hotly contested election.

^7-8a Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything, during a pandemic, or a hotly contested election.

It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen, during a pandemic, or a hotly contested election . . . 1 Corinthians 13 — PHILLIPS

So much has been falling away . . . I want to keep and preserve friendships, because somehow, I don’t think back to normal is where we are headed.

For now, three Psalms still keep me occupied – 20, 34, and 50. They show me how to pray when I don’t know how.

Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…”Safe?” said Mr Beaver …”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Plus, they remind me that God is so much bigger than I can fathom, and this current chaos isn’t His first rodeo. I don’t think the election outcome will surprise Him, either.

*SAILBOAT Caspar David Friedrich, On The Sailing, 1819.

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