A survey once asked a group of 90-year olds to define what love is. One man said of his wife of 67 years: “It’s not like the Hallmark Channel. She was beautiful of course…but she was my best friend. And that made our love take on a different sort of glow.” Another gentleman said, “I want to go downtown, but she wants to go to Westmount Square. So, we went to Westmount Square, and I'm very happy. That’s love.” Another woman said: “We all have our flaws and baggage we bring into love. Love is giving each other a generous baggage allowance.” The Apostle John was also in his 90’s when he wrote his own definition of love: “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8). As we finish out the Advent season in our fourth week, we join with the church around the world in focusing on love, the love expressed in the gift of Jesus. We started our Advent series in John 1, and it’s back to John’s gospel in chapter 3 that gives us a definition of the love that the Father put on display for us at that first Christmastime.
