One of the things I have heard quite often over the past 31 years I have been in parish ministry, is that congregations are supposed to be places where everyone loves each other. Until very recently I have agreed with that; I have pictured that as an ideal toward which we all ought to work. These days I am not so sure that this is the goal of Christian community in general...
Jesus was not talking about love the way our culture tends to talk about love. This is not about a superficial, “feel good” kind of love. It is not about a short term, self centered kind of love that focuses on me, and mine. Jesus was not saying that what matters is that I am loved, or that I experience that warm fuzzy feeling that we often associate with love.
Elke Thompson and Sam Quinn got engaged the old-fashioned way: their parents arranged it. Quinn, 23, a quiet engineering student from Springfield, Mo., wanted to settle down, and asked his parents to play matchmaker.