A LOVE STORY FOR OUR YOUNG ONES
Ellie Dunigan-AtLee

Hi, my name is Ellie and I’m part of the youth group. Brooklyn asked me to talk a little to you all about today’s scripture. Our topic today is love, so I wanted to ask you all: what do you think about love? What is love to y’all? This part of today’s scripture talks about how our view of love as humans here on earth is incomplete. You guys as children have a different view of love than all these grown ups. All of us have a different piece of the puzzle to what love means, but God helps us to see a complete picture of what love is. My parents have hanging in our living room an awesome quote by Baba Dioum, and the part that really stood out to me was the line “we will love only what we understand.” I feel like the scripture is saying something similar, that we have to know fully to love fully. When was a time that you felt fully known and loved? 

I know that I felt fully known recently when my teacher, who knows I love languages, let me read the story we are reading in class in a different language. It was a very small thing, but it made me feel seen and known. Yesterday we had an amazing event called youth for change where we were raising awareness for people who don’t have a house to live in. Seeing and knowing people is one of the reasons we held this event. If people only love what they understand, then helping them see, know, and understand the folks who don’t have houses is soooo important to helping them show love to those people.

Finally, I wanted to ask you: why do we show love? I feel like in addition to all of our different reasons, we also show love because it’s one of the things that helps us get through hard times. Not having a house is really hard. You all know how cold it is outside. Imagine having to sleep outside with no heat in that cold! That’s why we have to show love to people who struggle with finding a house. We want to help them through that hard time.

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A LOVE STORY FOR OUR SAGES
Ovella Huddleston

“If I speak in tongues of mortals and of angels,
but do not have love,
I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers,
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains,
but do not have love,
I am nothing.
If I give away all my possessions,
and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,
but do not have love,
I gain nothing..”

In this scripture, Paul compares one who speaks without love as a “noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Gongs and cymbals are musical instruments, and have the potential to create beauty and harmony, but equal potential to simply create noise and dissonance. That is the same as how each of us has the potential to create harmony with love, and the equal ability to create dissonance with hate. In the same way one must practice a musical instrument to improve their ability to create these beautiful harmonies, we must practice love through our actions.

Our actions — our “tongues,” or words, our “knowledge,” our “faith,” our giving of our material possessions — mean nothing without intentional love to back up those actions. But what is that love? What does it entail? Well the scripture provides an answer to this question as well.

“Love is patient; love is kind;
love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist in its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;”

Every word used to define love focuses on the effect we can have on others. “Love is patient” as we give others respect and time. “Love is kind” as we build genuine connections with those around us through big and small acts of service to the needs of those we love. “Love is not envious or boastful” and “It is not irritable or resentful.” Any action done for one’s self in a boastful way, or in any way that may harm others through our resentment is not love.

If we want to show love to our neighbors, we must care about them as individuals, and because we genuinely care about them — not simply because we are “supposed to love them.” We must give each person the respect they deserve, and give our time with those we love to laughter, listening, tears, joy, all the parts of  connection necessary to show that love so clearly necessary to being human and to creating harmony in the world.


A LOVE STORY FOR EVERYONE
Jack Huddleston

Love never fails. No matter how young or old someone is there is always Love given and received. As people move into different stages of their lives they change relationships and make new ones but the love shared is always genuine. People learn from one another and share love with their mentors. Although different generations have different ideas and terminology they still communicate with each other through their love. No matter who, grandparents, teachers, mentors or important older people in people's lives, they are always important in our lives and deeply loved. Everything can change and everyone changes as they get older and wiser but love continues through all change. Love is something for everyone no matter their background or current circumstances. Everyone is loved even when it may be hard or unseen. Everyone continues To be loved and cared for through their lives because it is the most personal gift We can give. Love may look different in different generations but always goes beyond age and experience. We are grateful for love and that's why it becomes a deep connection because when we receive it we want to give it as well. The gift of love is kind and timeless.