The profundity of this declaration and others like it in the Gospel according to John have been growing on me since my retreat in August. There the retreat master urged us to see God’s love as enfolding us and God so wanting to shower us in Love that all we need to do is accept it “and ask for more.” That is all we are asked to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God is love. God loves. Love needs nothing from us except to recognize that Love is God and that all we do in the “name” of love is done through the Divine. This is why when people are truly in love, they feel wonderful. It is what is “behind” the insights of I-Thou. It is what the striving to be open to the Divine is all about. For, as Richard Rohr points out, listening to another with full attention and openness is hearing and seeing the Divine within that person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Richard Rohr puts it: “In Jesus, God gave us a human heart we could love.”<\/em> (Dec 12). Jesus keeps “Love” from being abstract because he was one of us in history. Hence the quest for the historical Jesus. What did his Apostles and other people see in him? Was it a hint of the Divine or more than a hint?<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Love\u2014God incarnate\u2014always begins with particulars: this woman, this dog, this beetle, this Moses, this Virgin Mary, this Jesus of Nazareth. It is the individual and the concrete that opens the heart space to an I-Thou encounter.\u00a0Without it, there is no true devotion or faith but only argumentative theories.” <\/em> This makes sense of the Christ Jesus. It is the meaning of humans needing the incarnation, the sacramental in order to an avenue to the Divine, to the Holy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Howard Thurman: “I want to be more loving in my heart! It is often easy to have the idea in mind, the plan to be more loving. To see it with my mind and give assent to the thought of being loving\u2014this is crystal clear.” Howard Thurman,\u00a0Meditations on the Heart<\/em>\u00a0(Beacon Press: 1953, 1981), 168\u2013169.\u00a0<\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ann Henry, a composer in Portland who wrote a Mass called “Everyman,” had a piece in the song that was very simple but is very profound and that I pray:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Thank you, our Father, for your love. Thank you, our Father, for you Love; help me to be worthy of your love. Awaken me to love; help me to Love. Thank you, Our Father, for your love”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have adapted this song-prayer to: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you, our Lover, for your love. Thank you, our Lover, for you Love; help me to be worthy of your love. Awaken me to love; help me to Love. Thank you, Our Lover, for your love”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you, our Beloved, for your love. Thank you, our Beloved, for you Love; help me to be worthy of your love. Awaken me to love; help me to Love. Thank you, Our Beloved, for your love”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you, our Love, for your love. Thank you, our Love, for you Love; help me to be worthy of your love. Awaken me to love; help me to Love. Thank you, Our Love, for your love”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a simple but deep prayer that’s easy to remember and say throughout the day. It follows the triune relational formula of Lover-Beloved-Love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The profundity of this declaration and others like it in the Gospel according to John have been growing on me since my retreat in August. There the retreat master urged us to see God’s love as enfolding us and God … Continue reading