Love Never Ends

She was used to listening to other peoples’ stories. They would come in and sit down in her office and just start talking. Divorce, death, abuse, sickness, disappointments, no topic was ever off-limits. It taught her many things, like the fragility of life and the pain of loving. Her job was to help people see the hope, even in the worst despair.

Then one day it was her turn: someone she loved deeply was in trouble, standing on the brink of life and death. She thought she could effect a change and turn the possibility of death into the possibility of new life. But the one she loved didn’t want to cooperate; refused, even, to admit there was a problem.

The confrontation was filled with anger and denial, and finally what seemed like a victory: her loved one agreed to get help. But it didn’t happen. Instead, there was an ambulance ride and an emergency room visit that turned into an overnight stay. Where was she to find the hope that she had so often extended to others?

After hours at the hospital, she fell asleep, exhausted and frustrated. How do you help someone who doesn’t want to be helped? When she awoke the next morning, her eyes fell first upon the crucifix hanging above the dresser. And she heard the words so clearly in her head:

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 1 Cor 13:4-8

Years later, even as she watches her loved one struggle to be free and whole, these words remain with her. She is not responsible for change, she is only called to love. And so she does, each day, the best she can. Some days are harder than others, but she has the hope and the promise of a loving God.