1 Corinthians 13:13
says “12For now we see in a
mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know
fully just as I also have been fully known.13But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but
the greatest of these is love”.
In the mindless repetition
of this differentiating text from the Bible, I have seen many a wedding
solemnized, many a suffering explained away and moments of confusion managed
for the temporal convenience of clergy and the laity. The Passion Week is a reminder
past the centuries of an unparalleled traverse of the Jesus figure in its
intensity and solemnity both. The essence between the text from the Corinthians
and the experience of the Now Moment in the present, revealed itself in a
pristine view for me today. So, I record them here – partly as a re-discovery
of matters spiritual, and partly as an instrument to my own meaning making. And
no, I have not gone to the etymological, epistemological or liturgical roots of
these terms. So they come minted with the scent of my own till that the world
has suffered for me.
Faith is supposed to be a
dive into the unknown, and yet, it presupposes a lot. Faith per se is a call to
action. On the face of it, it seems a simple, pure and unqualified act of
trust. Faith however, rests on the actor’s past. It summons a judgment in the
moment between choices in favour of the one choice presented for appeal. Such judgment
arises only if the actor has a past experience of matters from which to discern
the worth of the judgment call. Hence faith is past-dependent, despite its
glory in the present.
Hope is a beacon of aspiration,
aligned with an experience yet to be. It signals a poise of uncovering inner
potential whether passive, dormant or active. Hope is a form of reliability in
unborn futures, separating the moment from the burdens yet to be borne; and yet
giving meaning to today’s yokes. Hope is
a tempering of the Spirit, the enmeshment of the Larger Mind within us that
connects with what is larger than us.
But spirituality is not
just through the mind’s intellect. Spirituality is also through our body and
emotions. Transformations happen when we ready ourselves in the moment to
receive love. Love exists in the present. We may never know in our lifetimes,
as we know it, where Love comes from. It is only in the receiving, that we can
recognize Love. In Love, we die to the moment. In this death, we renew
ourselves. Mindfulness allows us to integrate what we sense through body and
emotion into Love. For Love is a decision, that embeds many a moments of emotion,
but is not an emotion of itself. Love is the giving of all you are in the
moment you make that decision.
Love can bear all things,
if we experience the Presence of Eternity. Forgiving Love is a decision to
dissociate feelings and emotions with the person whose acts may have hurt us in
the past. Merciful Love is a decision to be in service of the heart, where
compassion is a state of accurate empathy with the other’s feelings, and yet,
in such service; one breaks known rules of engagement. Love is in the giving.
And since each moment is new; when expressed, Love bears authenticity, an
originality born of an awareness of the moment.
Integrating the Past and the
Future in the Present may seem difficult. In surrender to the moment, not
insisting on what we desire, but experiencing from a wholeness to deserve the
bounty of resources in the moment, Grace becomes an amazing feature. Grace is
the mystical, unmerited mercy, whose gift is like the synesthetic synapse of
laughter and tears at the same time. The Presence of Eternity, then alters our
perception of time itself. If as the Bible Says, that the Greatest of these is
Love, mindful present-awareness has a premium over Past–dependent Faith and
Future-oriented Hope.
Yet, the moment contains the humble connotations of the
connected tenses. This is a new meaningfulness for me today. If you let me know
what this means for you, I shall be much obliged.
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