Over the last several days, I’ve written about the gospels most affecting my life. But there’s also an important epistle, First Corinthians, chapter 13, 1:13. Through most of my youth, it spoke of faith, hope and charity, which dovetailed nicely with my feelings about the poor and what we should do for them, which is to take care of them. Then somewhere along the way, charity became love.

No one explained it to me, it just happened. It might have been about the same time as the Second Vatican council where we got to have the liturgy in English rather than Latin and we began doing things like holding hands. And there might have been a sermon or two on the subject, but none stick with me. It was just one of those things I noticed. One day it was that, and now it was this.

But even with love rather than charity in the text, it still makes for a powerful message. The first section tells us how little our accomplishments mean without love. If I do not have love, I am nothing. The second section tells us all that love is. It is patient. It is kind. And in the final section we learn to put away the things of our childhood and become an adult. Because the greatest thing is love. And to me those words spoke volumes about how we should deal with people of all colors, of all religions, of all nationalities. Love. Easier said than done. But I guess that’s the challenge.

Part 14, Living in America, An Old Man’s Journey into His Past,