Love

During the 17th century, an archbishop traveling through Scotland met theologian Samuel Rutherford but kept his identity secret. Rutherford invited the man to stay with him.

When Mrs. Rutherford gathered the servants on Saturday to prepare for worship the next day, the guest joined in and was asked a basic question: “How many commandments are there?”

When the guest replied “11,” Mrs. Rutherford said, “What a shame it is for you, a man with gray hairs, in a Christian country, not to know how many commandments there are!”

The next morning, Rev. Rutherford went out in the woods to pray and heard his guest doing likewise. When he discovered the archbishop’s identity, Rutherfordinvited him to preach that morning. The archbishop’s topic? The 11th commandment, based on Jesus’ words in John 13:34 — “A new commandment I give to you, that ye love one another” .

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“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone
— we find it with another.”       —Thomas Merton