Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Today’s text

1 John 3:1

You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God's children -- which is what we are! The reason why the world does not acknowledge us is that it did not acknowledge him.

Reflection

Beloved, the word rolls from my lips. I have no better word for the fullness of my heart when I know myself in you, Holy One.

A fullness comes into me, allowing no room for anything else but the awareness of love, of you who are love. Everything else goes away, and every thought, if any occur, is bathed in the love which you are. I see all that is as beloved, loved beyond all measure.

These are moments of truly knowing you, Blessed Mystery. Knowing the love in which you hold me and everything, I know you, the life you are. I share immediate, intimate communion in the love that is the substance of your Being.

And I am happy … and free, so free at heart.

But there is something else, a deep internal ‘must’ appears when my heart is full, and I know that I am your beloved.

The fullness of love that fills me must be shared so that all I see and touch might be filled with awareness that they, too, are beloved, embraced by the mystery of your life.

This ‘must’ is not a burden. It is not an external law that works against my nature. Filled with the Love you, this becomes my nature, even as it is yours eternally.

You must love for you are Love. Your love cannot be contained. It must spill out in ultimate and constant generosity.

In this, I know you, Holy One. You are Love Uncontainable. The substance of your life is this love that pours out endlessly, seeking to fill all that is, a love that finds me in my wayward wandering.

The whole world is your sacrament, Loving Mystery, the means of your expression. I never know when or what will again fill me with the Love you are. I only know that you will.

Last Sunday, I held precious new life in my arms, a little boy, Benjamin. I baptized him into the Ultimate Mystery, the Love which has no name but who comes to us as Father, Son and Spirit.

Tears formed as I lifted Benjamin from the font and marked him with the sign of the cross in holy oil: “Benjamin, beloved child of God from all eternity you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.”

Having spoken the words, I held him to my face and kissed him. I loved him with the love that is in me, the Love that you are, my Lord.

I yearned for this child, wanting him to be filled with the wonder of life and the beauty of all that he is. I wanted him to know great love surrounding him all the days of his life. I wanted him to share in the resurrected life of Jesus--hoping he would always know he is beloved by you since before the birth of the worlds.

And in that moment, I knew the love you are, Holy One, for this is the very same thing you want for this little child … and for me.

Pr. David L. Miller