I would like to read to you a story called Lucky Bear by Joan Philips.

‍“What a nice bear I have made. I like your red hat.

Here is a blue scarf for you.

Now all you need is a name.

I will name you Lucky.

Here is a good place for you.”

“Hello. I am Lucky. Let’s go out and play.”

“No,no. We are toys. We must sit here.”

“I do not want to sit.

Look!The window is open. Lucky me!

Help! I am falling.

I am safe.

Oh no! Here I go!

Lucky me. Here is a boat.

Oh no! It is sinking. (I like water but I cannot swim).

I am lucky. Here is a balloon.

Look! I am flying.

Oh no! Now I am up in a tree.

I am lucky. Here comes someone to help.

“Hi. I am Ben. I need a bear.”

“Hi. I am Lucky. I need a boy.”

“We are both so lucky.”

‍

This is a delightful little story about a bear who begins life in a toy shop. The toy-maker calls him ‘Lucky.’ But not content to sit on a self, Lucky ventures out and finds himself falling. His old safe world is falling away. He lands in a boat. That then sinks. He catches a balloon, but that lands him up a tree.

So, he endures three crises – falling, sinking, and up a tree.

But what is so endearing about Lucky, is not so much his resilience in meeting these crises but his unrelenting positivity. He lives into his name Lucky, even when a whole lot of unlucky things happen to him.

In the end he meets Ben. Ben has seen him catch the balloon and land in a tree. Ben doesn’t tell Lucky to go back to the shop and sit on a shelf. Rather Ben admires his adventuresome spirit. He says, “I need a bear.”  And he meant, ‘I need a bear like you Lucky, one who likes exploring, and occasionally gets into trouble.’

Lucky also realizes that he would like someone who understands him, someone like Ben, in his life.

Rodger, who has been quite unwell recently, sent me a note saying that “teddy bears are about relationships and how important they are.” And then he went on to introduce Stanley, his bear. Stanley has been his constant faithful companion while Rodger has been unwell. Stanley sits across from Rodger on the couch and asks, “Well, what’s next?”

Stanley sounds a bit like Lucky. He wants to know what the next adventure might be, even if Rodger might feel he’s had enough adventures for now. I suspect Stanley is full of that unrelenting positivity stuff. Which we all need when we are unwell.

Many years ago (2006), as I’ve told many of you before, I was part of instigating a ‘Blessing of the Teddy Bears’ service’ at a small country church in the Cotswolds, England. Somehow word got around, which is not unusual in the country, and that word got into the ears of a big London newspaper, which is unusual, and the next thing you know we had a reporter asking all sorts of questions. Like: how can you bless something that isn’t real?

Oh, he of so little faith! Of course, Teddy Bears are real!! Covered in fur, full of fluff, buttons for eyes, stitching for mouths, and smothered in unconditional love. To answer The Times reporter, I said something like: “‘Real’ is what has or does sustain us. Teddy Bears are real like love is real. And its love in all its forms – encouragement, kindness, listening, cuddles, helping, joking – that sustains us. Particularly when we aren’t feeling positive, weighed down by worry, or trying to be well.” As for blessings, they are about acknowledging, thanking, and encouraging more of that sort of real.

Blessed be those who love unconditionally, those who create the environments, policies, protocols for unconditional love to flourish, and those who model, teach, and encourage unconditional love wherever, whenever… for they create a world where fear is kept at bay.

++++++++++++

Teddy Bears, with their arms open wide, symbolise the power of unconditional love(which is the heart of God). Teddy Bears are ready to embrace you. They don’t mind whether you are happy or sad, rich or poor, pretty or plain, conventional or odd, brainy or not. In their eyes you are a beautiful person whom they love.

At school, on television, in many homes and religion the message is that you have to earn acceptance. You have to prove yourself. You to have to do something. You have to behave in a certain way in order to belong.

Unconditional love, which I believe is the essence and heart of God, says ‘No’. You are loved and cherished no matter who you are related to, what you do, look like, or achieve. You are loved. Full stop. And Teddy Bears symbolise that.

The opposite of love is not hatred but fear. When we haven’t experienced love, we are reticent to make ourselves vulnerable. We are apprehensive about trusting others, and therefore loving. We are frightened to risk opening ourselves, with our thoughts and feelings, to another. Only when we take the risk of responding to love will we develop the strength to overcome our fears.

The struggle to overcome fear and let unconditional love shape us is not just an individual matter. Whole communities, countries, and continents need to learn, risk, and experience the power of unconditional love and it let drive out fear and shape policies that are just, compassionate, and conciliatory. Maybe we should send a big Teddy Bear to every government in the world. But I’m not sure they would get it.

Blessed be those who love unconditionally, those who create the environments, policies, protocols for unconditional love to flourish, and those who model, teach, and encourage unconditional love wherever, whenever… for they create a world where fear is kept at bay.

The Corinthian Jesus Group, the recipients of Paul’s letter, seem to have been arguing about which people in their community were the most important. Which talents, skills, or gifts were the most valuable. And the outcome of this argument, I guess, would have been a listing of skills and gifts, which would have led in turn to ranking the importance and influence in the community that those so skilled and gifted should have. Not surprisingly the argument has not produced an unanimously supported outcome. So, they’ve written to Paul for advice.

It is in this context that Paul shares, like he did in his letter to the Romans(chapter 12), his body metaphor. Namely that we are all different (as an eye is to a little finger), we are all connected (by nerves, blood, etc), we are all needed for a body (a church) to be whole, and we are dependent on one another(when one suffers we all suffer). Christ is not the head of this body, but inbeing all connected as a community we are together the body of Christ, the body of God.

But then Paul concludes this passage on gifts and varieties of service by undermining their understandings of worth. He wants to subvert the whole hierarchy thing so prevalent in his society and in ours. Even when he points out in his body metaphor that the purpose of any skill or ability is to serve the common good of the whole, and we are dependent on each other, and have a duty to each other, I suspect he knows the cultural pull of his society (like ours) to reward and praise the talented, and affix status and worth to some above others, will lead in time to disparities, to biased favouring, and to prejudice and privilege being entrenched in policies, practices, and outcomes. So, he says, simply, ‘there is a better way’, and leads into what we know of as 1 Corinthians 13.

In the first paragraph he says love surpasses human eloquence (highly prized in the Greco-Roman world) and heavenly, spiritual languages (whatever they are?).Love surpasses all knowledge (also highly prized in the Greco-Roman world, and in ours). Love surpasses all faith (maybe the gift most prized by religions andr eligious). And love even surpasses all possessions (which for many, particularly in our day, seems to be the purpose of life).

But this love is not a possession. We don’t own it. We can’t exploit it. It won’t make us rich or important or influential. It is simply for giving away.

And as we give love, and give more of love, give more even than we think we have of love, love will begin to change us. Love will produce patience and kindness, gentleness and wisdom. It is a transformative energy. It will help us to listen, learn, and not presume. It will help us deal with, even heal, the hurts and resentments we all carry, in one form or another, from our past. It will help us understand truth, not so much right versus wrong, but as that which leads toa transformative goodness for the benefit of all.

And, Paul concludes, love might look weak. For his society, like ours, pedestalized the powerful with their weapons, words, money, and minions. For his society, like ours, valued accumulation, the appearance of strength, and the imposition of one’s will. Whereas love doesn’t. Rather love bears all things, all people –especially the weak, the worried, and our worst selves - in kindness, gentleness, and hope. Love believes all things, believes in people, believes in you and me, even when we find it hard to believe in ourselves. Love hopes all things – that the upending of the injustices of the world will come, and we and all our planet will breathe in new life, and we will be at home with each other sharing joy and hospitality and finding meaning. To this end love will endure all things, and in the end only love (and its offspring faith and hope) will endure.

I want to conclude with some words of Jim Palmer, founder of the Centre for Nonreligious Spirituality, that I heard once at a funeral:

“The greatest single need and desire of humankind is love. To love is the greatest power and freedom we possess. Every thought, word, and action motivated by love, transforms our reality. Love is the highest expression of what it means to be human.

The best I know to tell you is don't leave love left undone. Go all the way with love. There may be things you don't accomplish, attain, or achieve in your life. Do not let shrinking back from love be one of them. If you are fortunate, you discover that love is the only thing that really matters, love heals everything, and love is all there is.

On your way out of this world you will look back and see it was always about that... it was always love.”

‍