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If I Speak in the Tongues... Undoubtedly the most popular Bible reading to have at weddings is the thirteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. It is a fairly short passage, but has such resonance and poetry contained within it that parts of it have entered the English language even where their original context is forgotten. It is a hymn to love. Unusually it’s a passage that does not once mention God. Perhaps that is one reason why it has remained so popular; it could, in theory at least, be spoken of by those of all faiths and none. The Beatles sang that all you needed was love. Paul said something similar – not that all you need is love, but that without love you can have nothing else. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, if I can fathom all knowledge and mysteries, if I have a faith that can move mountains but do not have love then I am a noisy cymbal, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (that last bit is Shakespeare, not St Paul, but Paul would have agreed). Paul then goes on to describe what love is, and he describes love not in terms of fluffy emotions as though we were settling down to a Christmas rom-com movie. Love is not baking cakes, buying flowers or giving your last Rolo to someone that you’re fond of. Love is, according to Paul, patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not selfseeking, not easily angered but instead delights in truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Paul was trained in the ancient art of rhetoric – the skill of speaking and writing to great effect – and as he gets into his stride so you can feel the waves of his poetry swelling and building up. Finally he ends by saying that whereas everything else will come to a natural end, love lasts eternally within a holy trinity of faith, hope and love, the greatest of which is love. It’s not surprising that so many wedding couples do choose this passage (though other fine ones are available!) but what about the absence of God? In a church wedding you might expect the Bible passage to say something about the Almighty. As I usually explain to the dewyeyed couple in the church, this passage is in fact all about God. Another possible wedding reading says bluntly “God is Love”, and, for the Christian, God and love can be interchangeable words. You change the words in the passage from love to God (“God is patient, God is kind, God is not easily angered etc…”) and you would still get the sense of the hymn. God is the author of love and is at the heart of human love. That is one of the messages that I try to bring across to the wonderful celebration that is marriage. Rev Toby Hole St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats Church Office: Linden Avenue, Sheffield S8 0GA Tel: (0114) 274 5086 Page 18 email: office@stchads.org website: www.stchads.org
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