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This is a blog that I post to several times a week although not necessarily daily. These reflections are triggered by the scripture found in the lectionary used by many Christian denominations. While I am part of the Catholic tradition, these posts are not --or rarely--sectarian. I try to put myself in the space of a of Jesus Christ and listen to words that come to me as I read and pray the scriptures. Each post also includes a photograph. These rarely have any connection to the content of the post but are simply pleasing images that I capture as I make my pilgrimage through life.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

The Divine One's love is never up for grabs.

Queenston cabbage
Though the mountains leave their placeand the hills be shaken,My love shall never leave younor my covenant of peace be shaken,says the LORD, who has mercy on you.  Isaiah 54:19
This fundamental truth is so hard for me to accept.  There is nothing I can do, say or think that will result in the Divine One withholding love from me.  Indeed, the Divine One's love for all creation is unqualified, unconditional,  non-contingent.

The Divine One does not love us because we are good.  We are good because the Divine One loves us.  And what is true for me is true for all humans and all things.  There are no preconditions to that love.  There are no minimum qualifications that we have to meet.  We are used to that dynamic in our human relationships.  No matter what another person says, there are usually some expectations that have to be met before we are accepted as "one of us" and therefore worthy of concern and love.  But this does not happen with the Divine One.

As reassuring as this might be for me, the hook comes with the Divine One's expectation that my acceptance of this enduring and everlasting love will be evidenced by my enduring and everlasting love for all that is even including those who are in a real sense my enemies.  I am to love those who seek to do me harm both intentionally and unintentionally.  This doesn't mean that I simply allow myself to be harmed or that I don't try to defend myself but it does mean that my response is not to inflict harm on those who do wish to harm me.  Revenge of any sort is antithetical to the love of the Divine One as described to us by Jesus the Christ.

Jesus said that "my yoke is easy and my burden light."  And it is.  All we have to do is accept divine love and then pass it on to everyone and everything.

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