What is it that makes a person great, admired by creation,
well pleasing in the eyes of God?
Love.
What is it that makes a person strong,
stronger than the whole world?
Love.
What is it that makes a person weak,
weaker than a child?
Love.
What is it that makes a person unwavering,
more unwavering than a rock?
Love.
What is it that makes him soft,
softer than wax?
Love.
What is it that is old,
older than everything and everyone?
Love.
What is it that is new,
always up-to-date, relevant?
Love.
What is it that never dies,
outlasting everything?
Love.
What is it that perseveres,
when everything falls away?
Love.
What is it that comforts,
when all comfort fails?
Love.
What is it that endures,
when everything else changes?
Love.
Adapted, abridged and paraphrased from Soren Kierkegaard, “Love Will Hide a Multitude of Sins” (1843), in Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses.