At marriage ceremonies, I have tried to help young couples see that love is neither what they think they know about their partner, nor how they feel about their partner. During courtship, we naturally put our best foot forward. Similarly, as we get to know each other and demonstrate our care for each other, every tender thought, word and touch is filled with exhilarating joy, but love is not a warm and gooey feeling for someone. All across the world, thousands of hearts palpitate and lungs sigh at the very mention of names of movie, television and sports stars. One of the healthiest revelations in marriage comes on the day we realize that we can be fiercely angry at our partners and still love them.
Love is neither the goo nor the anger.
The First Scripture Lesson for Sunday contains a short theological treatise, delivered by Paul to the intellectual Greeks in Athens. He used that inscription to introduce the one and only true God to his hearers. His speech was clever, eloquent, short, to the point and yet profound. But when Paul brought this abstract God into the reality of Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, some of his hearers scoffed at him and the rest politely said that it was a nice speech and they'd like to hear him speak again some other time. Some years ago I was a guest preacher for a special service.