Within Reach

‘Gotcha!’ by Eden Photography

Out Of Reach

14 February – The pastoral text of Fr Reuter is this: Love does not rejoice in what is wrong, but rejoices with the truth. There is no limit to love’s forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure.

Love will not do what it knows is wrong; love will do what it knows is right. For instance, it will restrain itself in doing what may be wrong. It will always trust the other. It will always have high hopes. Love will remain whatever happens.

Again, the lines are from St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13), the Love Letter of all Times. Like love, it will endure. Love like St Paul describes it is something to be desired, to be aspired for, to be coveted. While we may not achieve such an ideal love, I believe that it is in the trying that we will be richly rewarded. In other words, in every little triumph that we make towards the ideal love, that itself is a rich reward.

When I look at EP’s image, I think, ‘I got it!’ I also think, ‘I didn’t get it!’ Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. Love is not as simple as reaching for apples. The apples may be for somebody else after all. She may be the apple of your eye, but she may also be the apple of somebody’s eye.

In fact, love is more than just your apples or my apples. Love is also innocence, the absence of malice, the hopeful gaze, the waiting tongue. Love is the child, the parents, the family, the neighbors. Love is as small as you think it is; it is also as big as you think it is, even bigger.