the analysis of Love. Will you observe what its elements are? Will you
notice that they have common names; that they are virtues which we
hear about every day; that they are things which can be practised by
every man in every place in life; and how, by a multitude of small
things and ordinary virtues, the supreme thing, the _summum bonum_, is
made up?
The Spectrum of Love has nine ingredients:
Patience "Love suffereth long."
Kindness "And is kind."
Generosity "Love envieth not."
Humility "Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up."
Courtesy "Doth not behave itself unseemly."
Unselfishness "Seeketh not its own."
Good temper "Is not provoked."
Guilelessness "Taketh not account of evil."
Sincerity "Rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth
with the truth."
Patience; kindness; generosity; humility; courtesy; unselfishness;
good temper; guilelessness; sincerity--these make up the supreme
gift, the stature of the perfect man.
You will observe that all are in relation to men, in relation to life,
in relation to the known to-day and the near to-morrow, and not to the
unknown eternity. We hear much of love to God; Christ spoke much of
love to man. We make a great deal of peace with heaven; Christ made
much of peace on earth. Religion is not a strange or added thing, but
the inspiration of the secular life, the breathing of an eternal
spirit through this temporal world. The supreme thing, in short, is
not a thing at all, but the giving of a further finish to the
multitudinous words and acts which make up the sum of every common
day.
_Patience_. This is the normal attitude of love; Love passive, Love
waiting to begin; not in a hurry; calm; ready to do its work when the
summons comes, but meantime wearing the ornament of a meek and quiet
spirit. Love suffers long; beareth all things; believeth all things;
hopeth all things. For Love understands, and therefore waits.
_Kindness_. Love active. Have you ever noticed how much of Christ's
life was spent in doing kind things--in _merely_ doing kind things?
Run over it with that in view, and you will find that He spent a great
proportion of His time simply in making people happy, in