For Now . . . But Then

“For now we see through a glass, darkly;
but then face to face: now I know in part;
but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
1 Cor. 13:12.

It was about noon on Friday, and we were returning home from the west side. Carl asked me if I wanted to go the back way–Cornell Road over the Tualatin Mountains (locally known as the West Hills). I always like the scenic route, the back roads, the winding road with tunnels and bridges and vistas. So my response was a quick yes.

Well, as we climbed, the temperature dropped and we entered a cloud (fog). The bare branches hanging over the road looked ghostly, so as we slowly wound our way, I took pictures of trees in the fog. There were no vistas.

Then there came a moment when everything changed. One moment we were driving through a dismal, gray blanket of drippy, cold fog. Then, we drove through a tunnel. And like that, on the other side of the tunnel, the fog was gone and it was bright and green. Such a metaphor of life!

This morning, as I looked at the pictures I’d snapped through the car windshield on Friday, I thought of 1 Cor. 13:12. It’s that verse that comes near the end of the “love chapter”–the chapter my high school literature teacher made us memorize, including every punctuation mark.

I’ve wondered about the placement of that text. Inserted between verse 8, “Love never fails….” and verse 13, “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Recently, I’ve been thinking about God’s great love, His redeeming love, and how our world desperately needs His love. We know that God’s love is the only antidote for the hate that is spewing upon us from a cauldron of evil.

And I’ve been thinking of how He intends for His love to flow through us to others. He would that we be vessels filled with His powerful, life-changing love.

Sometimes I think I understand, but then I realize I don’t. For now, I dimly see a mirrored image. Now, I know only in part. But someday… that will change!

For now, I need only know that “love never fails.” I need only know that there is faith and hope and love, and that the greatest of the three is love.

SOL:2.2.21