Friday, February 23, 2007

Today’s reading

1 John 2:3-5

“Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, ‘I have come to know him,’ but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection” (1 John 2:3-5).

Prayer

You render me a liar, great and constant. For I know you, and I know you are love. I know your command is that which you are and which you give. For you are love, and you give the love you are, bathing and soaking me to the soul, sometimes so fully I wonder if ever again I will speak a cross word, or allow impatience to overwhelm me, or surrender to disordered impulses, or awake in the wee hours filled with anxiety about my life.

But all too soon, the moment of truth fades. Too soon, I live the lie again. I turn from the drenching awareness of your unspeakable goodness to the petty concerns and desires of my pusillanimous heart. Mine is not a great heart, vast and expansive like yours. I am cramped and crowded, leaving little room for anything but me. And it gets lonely here.

So enlarge my heart, Spacious One. Make room in me for all that you love and all you would have me love. Soak my soul in the ceaseless flow of your divine affection. Only this releases my heart’s constriction and grows my soul to truly human proportions. Only this can make me less a liar. Only this enables me keep your commandment to receive and be the love you are.

Whatever else you might share of your goodness, Great Heart, grant me this, for I long to be human. Amen.

--Pastor David L. Miller