While dusting my bookshelf this morning, I came across a book that was very important to me in my young adult years – New Beginnings: A Book to Make You Fall in Love with God Again.
I read it with other members of the small prayer group I was a part of in those years. At the end of the book is a passage with these instructions: “Ask someone you cherish to read these words to you as though the living Christ were lovingly speaking them aloud while you listen with closed eyes. Imagine the Master saying these words to you.”
Remembering the beauty of that experience, I share these words, praying that you may experience Christ lovingly speaking them to you:
“What happiness it is to complete My joy by being with you. It is well that we are together. I know your every expression. I know well that hooded, withdrawn look when you separate yourself from Me. When you look into My eyes and I see a rekindling of the warm fire that burns in you for Me and for those you love, I rejoice that you know that nothing can separate us. I sing when your eye leaps to meet the flame of a cardinal winging his redness through the summer green. I smile when I watch you take a deep breath and complete the task I have given you. It gladdens Me when I see your reverence for everyone you know, as well as for My freedom to deal with each one as the wind of My Spirit prompts. Your humility in the presence of My creation, the honor you give to the universe which the Father and I have made, your openness to My truth everywhere, your incessant reach for purity and excellence, your obedience to My words makes you precious beyond all price to Me. When you forget yourself by giving yourself to My kingdom among the poor, the oppressed, the misused, the blind and indifferent, the lost and the angry – you move Me to tears of gratitude. It is well we are together. My joy in you is great. When you fail yourself you do not fail me. Your deceptions, your meanness and pettiness are all opportunities for Me. As you face your own truth, there will be a turning to Me, and a new beginning is now possible. Don’t you realize that there is nothing you can do to change My love for you? Don’t you know that you can’t stop Me from loving you? Will you hear me now? You are always more to Me than what you do or what you say or how you appear. To Me you are always you – the self I love and will always love is not yours to dispose of as you wish. A love which ceases to be is not My love. You belong to Me, as you belong to no one else, and I will never let you go. I am in you that your joy may be full.”
As I look back on my life, I give thanks for the books and friendships that have enriched my journey, for reassurances of God’s love and care when I most needed it, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.
Elizabeth
Today was a day of demonstrations in Washington and Charlottesville. C-Span covered the
events as they unfolded. The “DC Against Hate Rally” was filled with lots of angry voices – not what I expected at all. A diverse group of speakers shared concerns, some with dignity and restraint, others with profanity and divisiveness. They rallied, chanting, "no hate, no fear, KKK is not welcome here," and carried signs that read "black trans lives matter" and "solidarity trumps hate."
At the “Unite the Right” rally, a group of white nationalists gathered outside the White House to mark one year since violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia. Members of the "Unite the Right" march in Washington, D.C., were heavily guarded by police, as hundreds of counter-protesters from the “DC Against Hate Rally” gathered around them in Lafayette Square.
Watching these rallies was a troubling experience for me. I struggle with the “against hate” rally that seemed so filled with what they were protesting against. I struggle with the idea of “white nationalism” as well. Aren’t we all “against hate”? With all our differing understandings of what is “right” and “wrong” in all of life, it’s not a simple matter to “unite the right,” in political or metaphorical ways. A reflection on the evening news spoke of the “fear” that is at the root of the anger of the alt “right” – a fear grounded in the fact that white Americans will soon find themselves a minority in their own country. So many things to think about; so few things that make for peace.
In today’s sermon, “Living the New Life in Christ,” these words were shared: “We who have experienced God’s love are to become more loving; we who have experienced God’s grace are to become more gracious. We are to speak in ways that support faith in ourselves and others. Our actions are to become expressions of God’s love. We are to become sensitive to all the ways in which God has made us new creations in Jesus Christ, and to live into the fullness of our newness in Christ.” Helpful words to hear on such a day; the challenge of living them ever before us from day to day.
Romans 12:9 tell us, “Let love be genuine. Hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” May we work together to do this, with God’s help.
Giving thanks for those streams of mercy, never ceasing!
Elizabeth
My grandson and his family moved to Winston Salem last week, stepping into an unknown future far away from family and friends. I saw three rainbows coming home from helping them move in, and that was a gift of hope to my heart for them.
The first rainbow was off in the distance, spanning as far as the eye could see; the second rainbow was only partly visible, dark clouds hiding the left side; the third rainbow came down right in the roadway and I literally drove through it, the colors spilling through my car. That was special! A rainbow is a symbol of hope and promise, an assurance that God is watching over creation.
Poet Ann Weems writes:
“I keep reaching for rainbows…
thinking that one God’s morning
I will wake up with rainbow ribbons in my hair,
with hurts painted over in hues that only angel wings could brush...
the world created in a myriad of colors: the hungry fed,
the dying held, the maimed walking,
the angry stroked…
and every tear wiped away…
I know the promise of the rainbow.
I keep thinking I’ll turn a corner one day
and find a litany of rainbows
flung across the sky
hosannaing back and forth
through all the ages
and out into eternity forever amen!”
I pray for this young family as they find their way on life’s journey, that their pathway will be marked by rainbows, reminding them of God’s love for them, that they will make good choices and together build a life of beauty and grace.
In another Ann Weem’s poem are words of my heart for them in this season of their lives:
“If I could, I’d write for you a rainbow
And splash it with all the colors of God
And hang it on the window of your being
So that each new God’s morning
Your eyes would open first
to Hope and Promise.
If I could, I’d wipe away your tears
And hold you close forever in shalom.
But God never promised I could write a rainbow,
Never promised I could suffer for you,
Only promised I could love you.
That I do.”
Giving thanks for rainbows in the rain and for “streams of mercy” never ceasing, carrying us through this life to the life to come.
Elizabeth