I am sitting on my chair preparing a talk for a funeral that I have to do in a couple of hours, my Bible is open and I am drinking a hot cup of coffee.

I am looking at a blank page on my computer, my Bible is on 1 Corinthians 13, the well-known LOVE words of St. Paul.  But my mind is drifting to another book, Andre Agassi’s biography “Open”.

I love tennis, I used to coach tennis and I love playing it when I can. I am moved by some Andre’s battles and at one point in the book, he writes these words:

“Hate brings me to my knees, love gets me on my feet”

I am struck by these words, I stopped reading the book,  I highlighted the Kindle page and as do it something in me began to shift.

Hate is the enemy of love and hate blinds us. Hate is dark and it manifests itself in many different ways. But one thing I know: hate does not allow us to see the big picture, hate is narrow-minded, it is sectarian and in its religious form very deadly.

Hate has caused me to look down at the dirt, it lies to me, saying that “is where I belong, that I will be free and forgiven”. What a lot of nonsense!

Yet, love is totally the opposite, it brings you all that you and I want to be. Love is where our identity as people are found. Love is perfect, love is kind, love is patient, love does not keep a record of wrong, love lifts you up.

Love is a powerful force. St. Paul said it … “But the greatest of these is LOVE”.  Jesus knew this, so following him means the following love. To encounter Him means to encounter love. To live in Him means living in love, why? Becuase love covers a multitude of sins.

In a few hours, I will be at the crematorium, I will be thanking God that in Jesus love has triumphed.