The Supreme Gift

“I thought that I had already thought about everything you could think about Love when Henry Drummond’s sermon fell into my hands. My life changed a lot from the moment I read the words in this book and tried to put his teaching into practice.” Paulo Coelho “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” At some point, all of us have heard this passage from St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians. But do we really understand his message? At the end of the 19th century, the young missionary Henry Drummond was asked to replace a famous preacher. Though at the beginning he did not convince the audience, they were soon captivated by his analysis of the words of the Apostle Paul. This sermon, The Greatest Thing in the World, has become a classic and is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful texts ever written on love. Drummond broke it down into the following nine elements: patience, kindness, generosity, humility, gentleness, dedication, tolerance, sincerity and innocence. Contrary to what we are used to hearing, the greatest treasure in the spiritual life is not faith, but love. No matter what your religious beliefs are, this feeling is, without doubt, the most rewarding way to live. In The Supreme Gift, Paulo Coelho adapts Henry Drummond’s text, offering a real and powerful message that will help us incorporate love into our daily life and experience all its transformational power in our lives.