REMAIN IN MY LOVE
This week as I drove to Moorings Park to lead morning worship, I had one line from my text stuck in my mind. The passage was from the Gospel of John where Jesus is telling his disciples that just as God has loved Him, He is passing that love along and we should remain in His love. Remain in His love; the phrase kept coming back to me over and over again.
What does it mean to 'remain' in Christ's love. How do we 'remain' in a love that is the continuation of God's love for His Son? I don't remember anyone teaching me what it means to 'remain' in God's love. Is it important to our life of faith... why won't these thoughts go away?
I was driving down I 75 south at 70 miles an hour (the posted speed limit) as these thoughts came to me faster than I was driving. Remain in my love.
NPR was on the radio and I managed to focus for a moment as a woman began talking about being a friend of Dian Fossey and visiting her a decades ago at an observation sight. http://www.gorillafund.org/dian_fossey/
As a behavioral scientist, she had been very interested in Dian's work and was delighted by the invitation. On one particular outing, she accompanied Dian to a meeting place of large gorilla's, under a forest canopy. In a clearing, several gorilla's sat in a circle about 12 feet in diameter. As the two women approached, they were deliberate in moving slowly and refraining from making eye contact. Soon, they had enetered the circle and were sitting among the amazing animals.
But as it is with new things, the scientist couldn't help but to raise her eyes slightly to see what was happening around her. And she happened to lock gazes with a large female gorilla sitting opposite her. She knew she should look away, it was only a moment or two. The female gorilla rose and walked the distance around the circle to her position. Then putting her hands on the scientist's face... the gorilla drew her towards her...forehead to forehead. She could see the breathe of the gorilla begin to steam on her glasses. Then the gorilla took both arms and wrapped them on the woman's back only for an instant...then returned to the place she had come from in the circle.
When she recounted the story to folks, inevitably someone would ask: "What do you think it means?" And her reply was: "When you encounter wild things, amazing and wonderful things happen...even if you don't understand them." When you encounter wild things, amazing and wonderful things happen...even if you don't understand them.
That's it, I thought, that's it. That's what it means to remain in Christ's love, God's love for us. Remaining in the love of God is our willing attention to the wildness of God's love that allows us to glimpse the amazing and wonderful things God is doing, how God is present in our world... even when we don't always understand them.
Surely one way to remain in such love is through the daily practice of meditation. As we sit in the circle of that love, our hearts are changed ever so imperceptibly - until that time that we notice, that we've begun to see the workings of God all around us. As we sit in that circle of His love, it is as though the very breathe of God is changing our vision. And when we encounter such 'wild things of God... amazing and wonderful things happen...even if we don't fully understand them.
As we move through the Lenten season,friends, I encourage you to remain in Christ's love. And may the wild things of God be bountiful in your life! BLESSINGS AND JOY! The Celtic Monk
What does it mean to 'remain' in Christ's love. How do we 'remain' in a love that is the continuation of God's love for His Son? I don't remember anyone teaching me what it means to 'remain' in God's love. Is it important to our life of faith... why won't these thoughts go away?
I was driving down I 75 south at 70 miles an hour (the posted speed limit) as these thoughts came to me faster than I was driving. Remain in my love.
NPR was on the radio and I managed to focus for a moment as a woman began talking about being a friend of Dian Fossey and visiting her a decades ago at an observation sight. http://www.gorillafund.org/dian_fossey/
As a behavioral scientist, she had been very interested in Dian's work and was delighted by the invitation. On one particular outing, she accompanied Dian to a meeting place of large gorilla's, under a forest canopy. In a clearing, several gorilla's sat in a circle about 12 feet in diameter. As the two women approached, they were deliberate in moving slowly and refraining from making eye contact. Soon, they had enetered the circle and were sitting among the amazing animals.
But as it is with new things, the scientist couldn't help but to raise her eyes slightly to see what was happening around her. And she happened to lock gazes with a large female gorilla sitting opposite her. She knew she should look away, it was only a moment or two. The female gorilla rose and walked the distance around the circle to her position. Then putting her hands on the scientist's face... the gorilla drew her towards her...forehead to forehead. She could see the breathe of the gorilla begin to steam on her glasses. Then the gorilla took both arms and wrapped them on the woman's back only for an instant...then returned to the place she had come from in the circle.
When she recounted the story to folks, inevitably someone would ask: "What do you think it means?" And her reply was: "When you encounter wild things, amazing and wonderful things happen...even if you don't understand them." When you encounter wild things, amazing and wonderful things happen...even if you don't understand them.
That's it, I thought, that's it. That's what it means to remain in Christ's love, God's love for us. Remaining in the love of God is our willing attention to the wildness of God's love that allows us to glimpse the amazing and wonderful things God is doing, how God is present in our world... even when we don't always understand them.
Surely one way to remain in such love is through the daily practice of meditation. As we sit in the circle of that love, our hearts are changed ever so imperceptibly - until that time that we notice, that we've begun to see the workings of God all around us. As we sit in that circle of His love, it is as though the very breathe of God is changing our vision. And when we encounter such 'wild things of God... amazing and wonderful things happen...even if we don't fully understand them.
As we move through the Lenten season,friends, I encourage you to remain in Christ's love. And may the wild things of God be bountiful in your life! BLESSINGS AND JOY! The Celtic Monk
Comments
Post a Comment