Love Is Why We Have Hope …

Love is what carries you, for it is always there,
even in the dark, or most in the dark, but
shining out at times like gold stitches in a
piece of embroidery.
— Wendell Berry from Hannah Coulter

 

Notes On Hope

The news of late has captured the fever dream of modern life: everything exploding, burning, being shot, or crashing to the ground all around us, while growing older has provided me with a measure of perspective and equilibrium, and a lovely, long-term romance. Towns and cities, ice fields, democracy, people—all disappear, while we rejoice and thrive in the spring and the sweetness of old friendships. And families are tricky. There is so much going on that flattens us, that is huge, scary, or simply appalling. We’re doomed, stunned, exhausted, and overcaffeinated.

Believe There Is Good In The World (Christmas Meditation) …

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy.
When the Lord returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.
Burst into songs of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord will lay bare his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.
— Isaiah 52:7-10

A movie director would surely begin where Isaiah begins: by concentrating on the feet.  Feet, running along a mountain path. Accustomed to such terrain they are practiced, swift, and deft. They are also dirty, dusty, calloused, perhaps even bleeding. What makes them beautiful is the message we hear when the focus widens to the runner’s mouth: good tidings, peace, and good news that God reigns! The message itself, shouted aloud and borne on the mountain air, arrives  before the messenger.

Advent Meditation: Finding God …

Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God,
for God is love.
— 1 John 4:7-8, 12.

 

We are made of the sky’s cloth
and every thing is soul and flowering!
I open and fill with love,
and what is not love evaporates.
— Rumi from The Soul of Rumi

 

The Universe Is Love

The people who know God well—mystics, hermits, prayerful people, those who risk everything to find God—always meet a lover, not a dictator.
— Richard Rohr from Everything Belongs

 

Mercy & Love

I came across a quote from St. Thérèse of Lisieux: “The God who comes to us as an infant can only be mercy and love.” Every time we look at a Nativity scene, God reveals mercy and love. What happened on Christmas only shows us mercy and love.

Advent Meditation: Widening Our Circle Of Compassion …

We don’t set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people’s hearts.
— Pema Chodron from When Things Fall Apart

Seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, all the time, and his hand in every happening; This is what it means to be contemplative in the heart of the world. Seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor.

Advent Meditation: Everybody Can Serve …

Mary said, “behold, I am the servant of the Lord … “
— Luke 1:38

At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God’s own love and concern.
— Mother Teresa from Love: A Fruit Always in Season

God Among Us

Imagine how joyful life might be if we could simply place our anxieties in God’s hands knowing with confidence that God would take care of us. Yet, how does God take care of us if not through the kindness of others? As Christians we are called to act kindly and tenderly in our world, and this very kindness invites the presence of God among us.

Peace: After A Destructive Encounter …

God does not spill milk. God did not bash the truck into your father’s car. Nowhere in scripture does it say, ‘God is car accident’ or ‘God is death.’ God is justice and kindness, mercy, and always—always—love. So if you want to know where God is in this or in anything, look for love.
— Kate Braestrup from Here if You Need Me

We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.
— William Gladstone (attr. The National Elementary Principal)

Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.
Walk humbly now.
Do justly now.
Love mercy now.
You are not obligated to complete the work,
but neither are you free to abandon it.

The Living Image Of God …

The highest form of love is the love that allows for intimacy without the annihilation of difference.
— Parker J. Palmer from  The Courage to Teach

I conclude by saying that each of us must keep faith in the future. Let us not despair. Let us realize that as we struggle for justice and freedom, we have cosmic companionship. This is the long faith of the Hebraic-Christian tradition: that God is not some Aristotelian Unmoved Mover who merely contemplates upon himself. He is not merely a self-knowing God, but an other-loving God forever working through history for the establishment of His kingdom.