Maybe “it’s been a hard day’s night,” and you’re looking for a reason to say, “here comes the sun,” but today’s verse reminds us of our responsibility to each other: to love. As we will see in this discussion, it’s not just words or even actions: it’s your being as you interact with others. Love shows up in different ways, and finding ways to show up is our task as fellow travelers on this planet. So, here’s the discussion from June 18, 2023.

“👟 RSD 1146 ✅ Verse: “Do everything in love.” — 1 Corinthians 16:14

Simple. The Message translation groups verses 13 and 14 together (for fluidity, I think). “Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.” I like the different translations—it’s like they hit the same note, but on different instruments. Check these out. The Amplified Bible brings it in with, “Let everything you do be done in love [motivated and inspired by God’s love for us].” New American Bible (Revised Edition) has it as, “Your every act should be done with love.” New International Reader’s Version says, “Be loving in everything you do.” And, KJV has, “Let all your things be done with charity.” Same note, different instruments, different sounds. Words have a life of their own: they breathe differently depending on who they’re sitting next to—sometimes they’re more relaxed, and sometimes they’re more staccato. And, people respond to the different vibes.

“Do everything in love” is broader, more general and relaxed, something easy to keep in the back of your mind to bring to the front in moments of pause throughout the day, although focusing on “do everything” keeps the action fresh and allows you to be on the lookout for how to intertwine love throughout your daily routine. “Love without stopping” is more structured—the “without stopping” allows it to pull focus easily. Staccato. Without. Stopping—Don’t. Stop. The way The Message rolls the “give it all you’ve got” in the same paragraph gives it some oomph as well. I like the extra explanation in the “motivated and inspired by God’s love for us” because it reiterates why this being loving thing is the goal. “Every act,” again, staccato—like the little hammer thing on the marimba. Straight to the point. Simple. Easy to remember.

Now, “be loving”: that has a little something extra in it. Like, it’s still the Concert F note, but the kid plays it almost too softly cause there are only two people playing the tuba in Beginner Band. “Being” isn’t quite the same as “doing.” I mean, it is: who you are “being” predicates what you’re “doing,” so it’s the same thing…but it isn’t. It’s like in Full House when they have to switch out the Olsen twins mid-episode, but it’s like Season 5, and you low-key can tell. Be vs do—both auxiliary verbs, 2/3…the third is “have,” btw. You know I Googled it (don’t worry—I read more than one thing—although you can’t really argue with Oxford…it’s the 2nd oldest university in existence (the first is the University of Bologna, and I’m not making that up…that would make me full of…well, you know 😉)). Be means, “exist” or “take place.” Do means, “to take action,” “to perform,” “to achieve,” and bonus “to be in action,” “to behave.” Be in action. So, it seems that we have to be love to do things with love. If that love isn’t within us, then how can we translate it into some action?

Think about a canvas: you can’t paint the sky blue by putting red on the brush. (Yes, I switched from music to painting, but stay with me…here, “Bullet the Blue Sky” by U2–it has nothing to do with this post, but there’s your transition in the metaphors). If you want a blue sky, there has to be blue on the brush…and really only blue if it’s the blue sky you want. If you want to do things in love, there has to be love there to begin with. If you’ve just finished painting a dumpster on your canvas with brown, black, green (the pukey kind), black, and orange, your sky is going to look funky unless you clean the brush first, then put the blue on it. Lamentations 3: 22-23 tells us that “His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” So, clean the brush. Yeah, sometimes in life you want to paint a pretty blue sky, but you have to get passed the dumpster first. Things happen, both within and outside of our control. I mean—nobody likes painting a dumpster, but sometimes there’s just a dumpster there…stuff we don’t like and, perhaps, also our reactions to them. We come across a lot of dumpsters while making our way each day, and if you’re painting life, they’ll make an appearance. And, all you wanted was to capture the gorgeous blue sky. It’s doable. Just clean the brush. God will help you. Clean the brush, and paint the sky. Ask God to help you do the next right thing, dip the brush back in some clean water, and paint a white fluffy cloud that looks like a balloon animal. Fall in love with what you’re painting. God will help us make the right picture. Clean the brown misfortune and pukey green uncertainty and the red doubt off your brush. Dip into the color your actually want.

The last point that caught my eye was the KJV translation using charity (“generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering”—thank you, Merriam-Webster). It comes from the Latin word “carus” meaning, dear (“regarded with deep affection,” “cherished”—thanks Oxford). Brittannica lists it as “the highest form of love.” Charity means giving of yourself. “Done with charity” could mean “done with the highest form of love.” Giving of ourselves in trying our best to BE love, because each of us is cherished by God and so we should cherish each other: I guess that really short, simple verse is trying to tell us.

Today’s photo is simple, really: I came upon this one night backstage at recital—one young dancer embracing and encouraging another young dancer (her dear friend, her dance sister) who was nervous just before the performance (they killed it on stage, btw 🩰💪🏻). Giving of ourselves in love doesn’t have to be hard, y’all. Here’s one more quote, from John and Paul (not the Apostles): “All you need is love.” 🫶🏻☮️”