We always have a brief church service at Good Templar Camp during the summer. The year before, the teen counselors pick quotes from a multitude of books that they have to read during church the next time around. (Naturally, there are kids who make it to camp one year, then have to miss the next year “because I got a job”… the things people will say to get out of public speaking.) But there are books with Bible verses, poetry and various “meditations of the day” like this one:
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1 Corinthians 13: “Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love” (v. 13).
A lubricant makes most things work better because it cuts down the friction at the points of contact. Oil is a lubricant. Powdered graphite is a lubricant. Love is a lubricant.
Love is a lubricant? Correct! At the places in life where misunderstandings build and tensions mount and hurts fester and anger rumbles—at all those places, love helps life function better, without explosion after explosion. Love makes it possible to forgive, to overlook, to understand, to let it pass. Love cuts down harmful friction at the points of human contact! *
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There’s more to the quote, but I’ve usually got a case of the giggles by this point. Think about it: love = lubricant. Just imagine what some song lyrics would sound like with such a religiously positive change… And hey, God wants you to say it!
Queen, One Year of Love: Just one year of lubricant is better than a lifetime alone. (Sounds like those two would go hand-in-hand, really… Ba-dum-bum, ching! Thanks, I’ll be here all week, don’t forget to tip your wait staff!)
Sarah McLachlan, Ice Cream: Your lubricant is better than ice cream. (Mmmm, tastes like chocolate…) Your lubricant is better than chocolate. (Okay, if your lubricant is better than shoes, I think a lifetime alone will be just fine.)
Tonic, Love A Diamond: Lubricate a man who lubricates a diamond… (I think this is either appreciating a guy who just proposed or playing with glass dildos…)
Barenaked Ladies, In The Drink: I wanna drink your lubricant. (Goes down smooth and easy…)
Jewel, U & Me = Love: If you let me be me, I’ll be better than your best dream, U & M-E spells L-U-B-R-I-C-A-N-T to me. (Is it getting warmer in here or is it just me?)
Sheryl Crow, Where Has All The Love Gone: (Insert your own joke here.)
* Quote from p. 21, Bible Readings for Teenagers, Charles S. Mueller.
