a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13

I could be silver-tongued,
Persuasive,
Eloquent;
Capturing the attention of others.

I could be insightful,
Intuitive,
Intelligent, wise;
Capturing the thoughts of others.

I could be audacious, 
Courageous,
Fireproof in faith,
Capturing the allegiance of others.

I could be generous,
Benevolent,
Altruistic, martyred,
Capturing the approval of others.

And yet – 
And yet without love –

My voice is discordant
My reason is futile
My boldness overbearing
My sacrifice vainglorious

Love quietly waits for the right time,
chooses the gracious option.
Love invites another in, simply sits with them,
gently hears their story.
Love relinquishes offense, dissolves anger,
champions integrity into its place in the grand final.
Love is tenacious,
Resilient,
Serene,
Resolute.

Love has no need to capture the hearts of others.
Love has no need to capture anything or anyone.
For when love is enthralled by Love’s self,
All captives are made free.

When all words have been spoken,
All action taken,
All dreaming done,
Love will prevail.

originally published on space to call home https://s2ch.design.blog/