Sunday, March 25: Valerie Cordell

1 Corinthians 13:1. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

As one of the most well known and studied scriptures, from which countless songs, sermons, and poems have been written, putting a new or even personal ‘spin’ on the subject matter of Love seemed a little silly at first. After all, what hasn’t already been said to describe God’s perfect Love? I certainly know by now that it is not a feeling, despite the barrage of Valentine’s Day sentiments; and I also know that I cannot come close to replicating that kind of perfection in my efforts to love others as God has loved me.

So the process began… A discourse between Richard, Alyce, and me. I asked many questions about Lent (being new to the Episcopal church), the rules of this assignment, length, first person, etc… trying to formulate a structure for what I might write. After all, I wanted to get an “A+” from the teacher. My mind was spinning with ideas as I listened for snippets we could use in what I thought might be a joint “reflection.”

But then, as has been the pattern since I arrived here last year, God intervened and I knew instantly that for me, the importance of this process (and of Lent) was not what I might write, but the process itself. I looked to my right and saw Alyce reading a passage from a particularly wonderful book by Hannah Hurnard; then back to my left as Richard, with a peaceful and soft glow, also watched Alyce reading. And at that moment, through all of the heady analysis and discussion about Love, it became so very simple: These people ARE Love.

For me, the path that has led me to this place, to St. Thomas, has been painful at best; and had it not been for God’s Love reaching me through these self-assigned “God Parents,” my journey in this world would have surely ended. Through them, and eventually extending through so many at St. Thomas, I finally know the meaning, and how it feels to be the recipient of God’s Love—unconditional and perfect. No matter what the day holds, how they or I feel, and even through the inevitable human flaws or behaviors we might not see as “Godly,” they are teaching me to maintain a level of discipline and steadfastness that requires a daily choice—to put on the cloak of God’s love, and in so doing, become the Love that will meet others exactly where they are, to be what God asks of me at that and this moment.

— Valerie Cordell