Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8
“Take a sharp-cut young saint, just crystallized, as many-pointed and as clear as a diamond, and how good he is! How decided for the right, and how abhorrent of wrong! He abhors evil rather than loves good. He has not yet attained to the meekness and gentleness of Christ. But years will teach him that love is more just than justice; that compassion will cure more sins than condemnation; and that summer will do more, with silent warmth, to redeem the earth from barrenness, than winter can with all the majesty of storms and the irresistible power of her icy hand.”
Henry Ward Beecher in Life Thoughts, First Series (London: Blackwood) 158.
Why does it take some of us years to figure this one out? We abhor evil rather than loving good. We lack meekness and gentleness. We aim for justice instead of love and condemnation rather than compassion. Not this year. Let’s add love and compassion to our generosity.
My trip to India is drawing to a close. I depart from Mumbai tonight. While this country may have its share of challenges, compassion is curing many ills. As nothing can touch love and compassion, it’s been a privilege to dispense such kindness on my visit and see it make a difference.