On the wall of the former chapter room of Down Cathedral there is an unusual portrait, unusual in that it is actually painted on the wall with an imitation frame around it made of plaster. Incidentally, Down Cathedral, the traditional burial place of St Patrick, is a beautiful, historic building and well worth a visit.
The subject of the portrait is Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667) an Englishman who was chaplain to King Charles I, imprisoned by Cromwell after the king’s execution but upon the restoration of the monarchy appointed Bishop of Down and Connor. He also became vice-chancellor of the University of Dublin. Taylor was a fine theologian and scholar and is considered to be one of the greatest prose writers in the English language.
The portrait represents him as being formal and severe; it tells us very little about the man. But when one turns to his writings he comes to life. In his great work Of Charity, or the Love of God, Holy Living he wrote: "Love is the greatest thing that God can give us; for himself is love: and it is the greatest thing we can give to God; for it will also give ourselves, and carry with it all that is ours. The apostle calls it the bond of perfection; it is the old and it is the new, and it is the great commandment, and it is all the commandments for it is the fulfilling of the law."
In tomorrow’s liturgy we have St Paul’s wonderful hymn to love from 1 Corinthians 13, probably the best-loved passage of the New Testament.
Some will recall learning it by heart: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity [love] etc.’
Love
It is to be approached with more than emotion, a point that Jeremy Taylor clearly understood. Love has been defined as seeking the highest good for another person and in the opening verses of this chapter we are told that we can have all the virtues and religious gifts in the world, speaking in tongues, the gift of prophecy, intellectual skills, strong faith, even charitable works, but if love is not the motivator they are worthless.
St Paul goes on to tell us how love behaves: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Reading this, one could be forgiven for giving up in despair and saying it’s impossible; it is beyond me. But is it? If we reflect on those words of Jeremy Taylor, “Love is the greatest thing that God can give us; for himself is love”, and then think of those moments in our lives when we have known what it is to love and to be loved we are really talking about God real, active and present in our lives.
Divine
Even for those who find it difficult to believe in God, such moments, are, dare we say it, divine, heavenly, holy. Imagine – God that close. The Rev Judy Hirst develops the theme in her book
Struggling to be Holy
: “Relationship is at the centre of the Christian message although you could be forgiven for not always being aware of that. It can sometimes seem as if the main focus of Christian faith is the Bible and how we interpret it, or worshipping in a particular way, or having spiritual experiences; it is actually about a set of relationships: the experience of God’s presence among one another and through one another.
“Christianity is not a magic formula – it is a relationship. It is not about our ability to grasp concepts – it is about intimacy. It is not about our ability to live good lives – it is about learning to live lives in connection with the God who loves us and with his creation.”