Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they shall fail; where there be tongues, they shall cease; where there is knowledge, it shall fall away…. And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

         – 1 Corinthians 13

I recently experienced the best possible form of shopping – a poetry bazaar! Hosted my the wise and generous Elizabeth Lesser, our group wandered around a big room full of poems and quotes, gathering up precious scraps of wisdom and inspiration.

The quote that leapt up into my hand was surprising, because it was so familiar. This verse from Corinthians is one I know by heart, but this time, a different phrase caught my ear: “Where there is knowledge, it shall fall away.” Of course, the idea that there comes a time when knowledge is useless is deeply disturbing for someone who takes such comfort in the knowable and analyze-able.

Dear ones, whatever challenges we face this week, let’s use our minds and brains and knowledge to tackle what we can — and let’s also seek out the wisdom beyond knowledge, the wisdom that can be invisible because it is most familiar. The people we’ve known for years, the streets we walk every day, the trees that have stretched overhead for decades, the books and songs from our childhoods… let’s look to them with fresh eyes. Let’s soak up all they have to offer, the love that has been here all along.