Love feels no burden,

thinks nothing of trouble,

attempts what is above its strength,

pleads no excuse of impossibility;

for it thinks all things lawful for itself,

and all things possible. 

~ Thomas a Kempis

Even though Thomas a Kempis never married, and lived a solitary life, I think he has a beautiful way of expressing ‘love’.  Obviously, he was influenced by Biblical passages.

In his life as a monk during the late medieval time period (1380-1471), Thomas a Kempis spent his time in devotional exercises, writing and copying the Bible. 

Imagine copying the Bible – word for word – four or five times …

Which passages would you ‘discover’ while writing the Bible out the first time? What greater insights into God’s love would you have after the second time you wrote out every word of the Old and New Testament?  Who, in the parade of great men and women of God, would you marvel over after the third time?  At the fourth copying of every word in the Bible, could you anticipate the next line, or passage?

Classical Education & Copying

During the time our family home-schooled, we dipped our toes into learning using the Trivium.  It’s a classical approach to teaching where the kids first learn facts, and memorize and copy out great works including Bible passages. (Grammar stage)  Then in about grade five they begin to use those facts in an analytical way (Logic stage), and finally during the Rhetoric stage, which builds on the first two stages, this classical style of learning allows students to express their own originality and explore their own specialities.  (If you’re at all interested, we used The Well-Trained Mind.)

In writing/copying sentences & phrases, a child’s mind & thinking is formed.

What would happen to your thinking if you wrote out Biblical passages on love?

I don’t mean just to read them – but to write out every word using a pen or pencil on paper.

Would your thinking about love change?  Would you see love differently?  Would you have a greater capacity to understand love?  Could you express love more deeply/differently/with greater clarity?

Do you have favorite Bible words on love?

Here are a few suggestions:

• Colossians 3:12-14
• 1John 4:18
• 1Thessalonians 3:12
• Romans 5:5
• Song of Solomon 2:16
• John 15:13
• 1John 4:8
• 1Corinthians 13 (the entire chapter!)

Try writing out some verses on love – do one every day for a week – see what happens!