Today we went to a wedding in a small Hampshire village. The groom’s mother conducted the service in the beautiful ancient church and the weather responded well to the glorious attire of many guests. I didn’t manage to get any pictures, though. Which, being translated, means: I forgot to take any.
As at many weddings the second Bible Reading was from chapter 13 of Paul’s first letter to the Christians at Corinth – the one about love. It was the last verse that got me thinking while we were waiting to leave the church for the reception. It reads:
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
I once heard the Charismatic translation of this:
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is tongues.
And this memory got me to thinking about how many other words might illustrate our Christian preoccupations. For example:
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is … sex.
Or ‘money’. Or ‘being more right about things than my neighbour’. Or ‘liturgy’. You probably get the idea.
So, any bright suggestions to fill a moment of vague curiosity? This could be interesting, revealing… or just a little bit worrying.
June 28, 2009 at 1:24 pm
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is committees.
*shudders*
June 28, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Moltmann: “Nun aber bleibt Glaube, Hoffnung, Liebe, diese drei; aber die Hoffnung (im Prinzip) ist die größte unter ihnen.”
Kant: “Dummkopf! Du meinst: ‘Vernunft’!”
(Pannenberg: “Genauso…” Tillich: “Nein! Die größte ist Mut!” Barth: “Nein! Die größte ist das Wort Gottes!” Fiorenza: “Sophia!” Muhammad: “Allahu akbar!” Muhammad Ali: “Ich bin der größte!”
Whitney Houston: “Learnin’ to love yourself…”)
June 28, 2009 at 6:24 pm
By far the best way of tinkering with this passage is to get people to replace the word “love” with their own name.
Now that’s a challenging lifestyle!
June 28, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Mark, that is very funny and very clever! We need more – any language will do…
June 29, 2009 at 6:49 am
Thanks, Nick, I’ll work on my Ladino jokes. Meanwhile, as we do agree that the greatest is love, you might be interested in Mark Steyn’s commentary on his fellow Canadian’s ‘Dance me to the end of love’ and the lyrical limits and possibilities of English rhyme:
http://www.steynonline.com/content/view/2203/28/
June 29, 2009 at 8:44 am
One for Liverpool (well, 2008!):
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is Ringo
June 29, 2009 at 10:16 am
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is Ringo”
How could that be? He wasn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles!
Anyway, only two remain ….
June 29, 2009 at 10:46 am
I took a wedding on Saturday with the almost obligatory 1 Corthians 13 passage. (I wish readers could distinguish between the nonun ‘prophecy’ and the verb ‘prophesy’.) I’d be very surprised if any of the guests were having such lofty thoughts as you as they anticipated the reception. I don’t know how much they remember of what I say, but they usually laugh at my jokes – even the choir that could probably tell them for me.