“God’s Exquisite Love!”

How exquisite your love, O God!

And those who seek your wide wings’ shelter—

They feast on the abundance of your house

They drink the delights of your streams

For you are a fountain of cascading light,

You are the light within the light.

-Psalm 36

Last week I was able to write to you about God’s exquisite love and speak to you about the efforts that our artists have made in decorating the sanctuary. This week it is my hope that you will join with me in contemplating the struggle inherent in human life as we “bear the beams of love (William Blake).”

It is the nature of the universe, of God, of Love, to give, to constantly spill forth love and compassion. We are beloved – each one of us -- just as we are. It is Paul who says in his Letter to the Romans, “there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.” As we have been quoting Julian of Norwich over these weeks, “Love is God’s meaning in life and creation.”

Yet, we find it ever so difficult to, as Blake pointed out, “to bear the beams of love,” to embrace who we are created to be – God’s beloved. So, I ask you, if we are so loved by God, who are we to say that we are unworthy? Isn’t our own dim view of ourselves just the thing that causes us to suffer, to not acknowledge this great gift of love that is ours even before we are born, ours throughout and beyond our human lives?

For me, the small cross in our sanctuary symbolizes our human struggles as we “bear the beams of love.” Implied in Jesus’ words, “to love your neighbor as your self,” is self-love. Period. AND, self-love seems to be the biggest hurdle many of us may face in our life times. This Sunday, we will explore self-loathing and self-love, we will plumb the depths of our spiritual lives as we confront the obstacles that we place before God’s gift of “exquisite love.” We will explore the wounds that once accepted can only draw us nearer to the Holy One.

Blessings,

David