Reflecting backward on my posts of the past few months, I see how much I’ve become preoccupied with fighting against the ocean of darkness and death which drowns much of modern life, especially, and ironically, so much of Christianity which has become “bad news,” rather than the Good News to every single human dearly loved by God.
But I remember there have been many other times in history when evil in church and society got the upper hand such as the 30 Years War, when Christians not only got almost everything wrong theologically but as a result slaughtered each other for 3 decades. At least we’re not there; thank false religion for small favors.
Thankfully, we can instead look to the Living God as revealed by Jesus and listen to words of wisdom from his followers.
And this, I’m going to do…focusing in this meditation on the ocean of Light and Love that flow from God’s Spirit to drench us in hope.
“To pray…means to think and live in the presence of God…Thus prayer asks us to break out of our monologue with ourselves and to follow Jesus by turning our lives into an unceasing conversation with our heavenly Father…in the simple trust that through his love all will be made new.
The Father’s love does not force itself on the beloved. Although he wants to heal us of all our inner darkness, we are still free to make our own choice to stay in the darkness or to step into the light of God’s love. God is there. God’s light is there. God’s forgiveness is there. God’s boundless love is there. What is so clear is that God is always there, always ready to give and forgive, absolutely independent of our response. God’s love does not depend on our repentance or our inner or outer changes.”
Henri Nouwen
“That we can experience this Divine Presence…that changes and transforms everything in life--this is Friends' main message to the world….So the most important…can in fact be accomplished now--not in some indefinite point in the (uncertain) future. That is to say "yes" to God's Divine presence in my life.
Having once discovered this wonderful secret, this new dimension of life, we don't live any longer simply in time, we also live in Eternity. The temporal world is no longer the only reality we're aware of. A new Reality arises that enlivens and excites us, that moves us toward action, fills us with energy, breaks into our souls and with love embraces us--along with all those who find themselves in the Presence.”
Johan Maurer
“7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
I John 4:7-16 ESV
In the Light,
Daniel Wilcox
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