The Face behind

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, ‘Give them up,’ and to the south, ‘Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth. (Isaiah 43:1, 5-6)

There is a face behind the words, a Presence known only when the words fall away and you feel the warmth and light, the affection and desire of their Source.

Listen: Do not fear. You are mine. I call you by name. I speak to the four winds into which my beloved are scattered, and I order them to bring you home ... to me. For you are mine, and I long for your nearness.

That is what you say to me, to us, Living One, and our hearts cling to each gracious phrase hoping they will dissolve every last doubt and fear from our being. But this is not yet the gift you long to give.

Let go of the words; release your anxious grip on what they offer, and one begins to notice the Infinite Source behind the words, a Face we cannot see but know, alight with a great and impossible Love embracing everything we are.

The words on which we meditate matter: “You are mine. I call you by name.” They are real and true. We turn them over in our hearts and minds, grappling with all they might mean for us.

But their truest purpose is to carry us to the moment when we let the words fall away and commune with the Face who is Love ... and nothing else. No words needed.

David L. Miller