“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not to Love, I have become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all Faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not Love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not Love, it profiteth nothing.”
Drummond then showed how St. Paul defined Love by breaking it down into its separate ingredients, just as a man of science might take a beam of light and pass it through a crystal prism thus breaking it down into its component colors. In the same way, St. Paul offered a Spectrum of Love with nine ingredients:
| Patience………… | “Love suffereth long.” |
| Kindness………… | “And is kind.” |
| Generosity………. | “Love envieth not.” |
| Humility………….. | “Love vaunteth not itself is not puffed up.” |
| Courtesy………… | “Doth not behave itself unseemly.” |
| Unselfishness……. | “Seeketh not her own.” |
| Good Temper……. | “Is not easily provoked.” |
| Guilelessness……. | “Thinketh no evil.” |
| Guilelessness……. | “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” |
If a person’s living expresses all of these ingredients, could we call it Absolute Love? Not quite, perhaps, but those who show all of these qualities stand out as extraordinary human beings. I believe that Dr. Bob displayed those qualities in the 16 years he lived to carry the AA message to hundreds of alcoholics in the Midwest. And