Lord, Jesus Christ, teach me to pray.
A Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans [8:35-39]
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I feel as though there is nothing more for me to say or to add after reading this scripture. What commentary should I make about this completely overwhelming truth that nothing, nothing, NOTHING, NOTHING(!) can ever separate me from God’s love. I contemplate this fact and feel overwhelmed by that love and grace.
But, I guess the question becomes, Do we believe it? Do we really believe it? Do we live as though we are completely loved and that no matter what happens to us in this lifetime God’s love will never -can never- be taken from us. Do we live connected with that love? Or do we live separate from that love?
Once while I was receiving spiritual direction, the director said to me, “Just sit back and let Jesus love you.” What a suggestion! It was both inviting and intimidating. I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it, but I think that the operative word there was let. Allow Jesus to love me. I had to welcome that love in, open myself to it.
Recently, I attended a silent centering prayer retreat. For four days, I sat in a circle of silent prayer with 30 other people. At the end of the four days, we went around in a circle and said something about our experience that weekend, the first words any of us had spoken to each other. I will never forget what one elderly gentleman shared. His voice choked with tears, he simply said, “I now really know that Jesus loves me.” He had been a Christian all his life, gone to church, said his prayers, served others. After all of those years, in that silence of prayer, he somehow opened himself in such a way that he truly experienced what it meant to be loved by Jesus.
Why is it so hard for us? There is nothing between us. Nothing that separates us. No obstacles at all to God’s love except our own beliefs about that love.
Today, I invite you to to try what my director suggested to me. To just sit back and let Jesus love you. Imagine all of your defenses falling away. Let go of all of your preconceived ideas about yourself or God or love. Just sit with Jesus, with your heart open saying, “Here I am. Being loved by You.” Try to stay with Jesus for at least 5 minutes. If your mind wanders, that’s OK. Just come back and say again, “Here I am. Being loved by You.”
For your journal: How does it feel to allow Jesus to love you? How do you react to the story of the man who could finally say, “I now really know that Jesus loves me.” Do you know that love? What would you like to say to Jesus about the scripture for today or your experience of the prayer?
Loving God, Throughout this day and this season of Lent, may I continually walk in your love. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment