BECOME What You Love
I am sure God loves people who are consumed by a passion for the possible. So many of our negative moods, ‘bad hair’ days, lifeless morning feelings are because we are unaware that our possibilities are limitless. St Paul reminds us that we have already received what we ask for, if we do so with any bit of conviction; that we can do all things in Christ who makes us strong. The only boundary to our horizons are those we draw ourselves. We compromise, in our feeble prayers as though God did not really love us unconditionally and as though God wasn’t really all that powerful.
We half-heartedly and piously settle for less. There is no ‘fi re in our bellies’ to make us shout at God. Instead of storming heaven like privileged warrior-children of the almighty Lover, we hang around behind in the shadows, wondering if the Lord of the castle is in a good mood.
Maybe we are right to be afraid. Some prayers, like the Our Father for instance, are downright dangerous. Maybe in our heart of hearts, when we pray for ‘God’s will to be done unto us’ , we know we will be transformed all right, but crucified first. And there aren’t many willing sacrificial victims around these days. This reflection is about nurturing within us the utter certainty that whatever we ask for we will receive. And we will receive it abundantly, extravagantly, pressed down and running over. Only believe it and all that your heart longs for is already yours. A transfiguration can happen and we begin to radiate a new beauty.
So pause for a moment, take a deep breath , and visualise the place of glory promised by God to those of transparent hearts and translucent souls. This is promised for our lives now, when the beauty of our ‘hidden self’ is revealed for all to see, when the ‘abundant life’ is what we live every day. This reflection is about daring to be different; daring to dream the impossible dream because it is not impossible at all, since it is ours by birthright. It is about taking Jesus at his word , about a breakthrough into a whole new way of seeing everything, of understanding Thomas Merton when he shouted, ‘Make way for Christ, whose smile, like lightning, sets free the song of everlasting glory
that now sleeps in your paper flesh, like dynamite.’ . . .
Praxis:
When it comes to authenticity, you cannot do better than mix with children. They are at one with themselves. They are the love that drives and draws them. During your meditation today, let the presence of children – your own or others – flow into your awareness. They do not doubt their parents’ love. They radiate with it; that is the energy that makes them shine. But first settle yourself down to an inner stillness. Notice your joints relaxing, your shoulders dropping, your face softening. Now quietly turn your attention to those children you know and enjoy. Think of them at play, smiling or crying, always true to themselves. Recall their commitment to the matter in hand, their effortless
and spontaneous movements, their complete lack of self-consciousness. They carry an immense healing power because they are still undivided in body, mind and spirit. It is little wonder that Jesus so often held children up as the ideal to be honoured, if we are to understand anything about God and get to heaven ourselves.
Taken from Travelling Light by Fr Daniel O Leary a priest, writer and speaker