1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Today's Reading is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.
Since today happens to be Valentine's Day it is tempting to read "love" as "eros" as in the Song of Songs. Here the Greek word is ἀγάπη (agápē). King James even tried to moralize it but translating it as charity.

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Today's Reading is 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.
Two brief observations: "Christ Has No Hands But Ours".
And: "In the church God has put all in place."
Oh, and then there is the Cartman Song Lyrics as well.

Acts 26:19-27:12

Today's Reading is Acts 26:19-27:12.
The end is near: That is the end of the book of Acts and Paul's career.

After Paul basically preaching to the authorities he invokes his rights as a Roman citizen. And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to the Emperor.”

So with this man we have an example of someone bridging cultural gaps: Pharisee and Roman at the same time. Paul is totally embedded in 1st century Judaism. Paul is able to preach at the Areopagus in Athens so that people of Greek upbringing can relate to it.

Paul describes it beautifully in his own words: "Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized — whoever ..."