Thank you for translating and sharing this piece.

I am no believer, but 1st Corinthians is one of the gems of Christianity. Historically, it gives insight into the foundation of the Church and its governance, with Paul urging the congregation to stop bickering over which apostle they should follow and instead chiding them to follow Christ. Spiritually, it gets to the heart of all that is good in faith, imo:

1 Cor 13:1-13

If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

As far as eels go, the piece reminds me of verses 11 and 12, quoted above. My strongest spiritual experiences are tangible. They sit in my chest and bring me to tears, even as I can't explain what they are. 1st Cor/Eels gets it right - faith should simultaneously shake and ground you. It should be both uncomfortable to confront and comforting to partake in. It should make you aware of every facet of your being.

"Let's think the unthinkable, do the undoable. Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all."

Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency