Will He Find Any Faith?

Will He Find Any Faith?

“But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” (Luke 18:1-8)    

Luke prefaces the parable of the Importunate Widow with the call to pray continuously without losing heart, then, tells how the widow, after unrelentingly pestering the unscrupulous judge, receives a just settlement.  Lastly, he unleashes this fateful question of Jesus.  

This Gospel snapshot, on first read, seems disjointed.  It begins as if it’s a primer on prayer, yet, the widow is not portrayed as prayerful or pious, but as demanding justice against her enemy; the judge has no similarities to God; and it concludes with Jesus’ startling question about his Second Coming.

The beauty, of a portrait painted in broad strokes, is hidden close up.  One must back away from it to capture its fullness.  So too, the Truth of these eight verses lies hidden until we back away from its literal setting.  Like a good painting, this parable makes its statement through contrast.  If a feisty widow, with nagging, can secure just settlement from a secular judge who hands out justice based on personal profit, how much more can a person of faith, with unrelenting prayer, find Recompense from a merciful God?  

On the surface, Jesus is telling us if we persevere in prayer, especially when it seems like God is not listening, we will surely be rewarded.  But, that he seals this parable with the Daunting Question, ‘will he find any faith on earth?’, speaks of something deeper than the shallow motivation of getting what we want if we persist in asking –he is summoning us to a life of Faith; to live as if God’s Promise is true, and to do so, not only in the absence of evidence, but even when evidence is to the contrary.

This kind of intractable Faith, is what gave Abraham the strength to offer his only begotten son.  It goes against our feelings, desires, and logic.  It offers no proof, but demands unconditional commitment.  As such, it is as uncommon as the ‘hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it’ (Mt 7:14).  Jesus forewarns us, that when he comes again, he will be looking for Faith, and he wonders aloud, if he will find any.  

He frames this intractable Faith as rare among men because it is not of man.  It cannot be conjured up like a fanciful wish, nor called forth as a feat of strength.  It cannot be earned.  It is won only by surrendering -to an Unseen Power, and at that, it is usually discovered after exhausting all other options.  If it is ever secured, it is only after having lost it many times.  It is never neat and tidy, but tattered and bloody.  Once known it cannot be unknown, yet it is easily forgotten in times of comfort.  

 Faith is an ephemeral mystery because it is a Gift not of our world –it is the Stuff of God.  We must believe it before we can know it -as courage cannot exist outside of fear, Faith cannot exist outside of uncertainty.  It exists in the absence of what we desire; in our desperation for consolation; in the strength of our weakness; in the impossible hoped possible.  

We can no more grasp Faith with our mind than we can hold onto Jello with our fingers, yet Faith is our only link to God –our only lifeline to transcend suffering and death.  As such, Faith is the Supreme Gift.  It is given for all to freely receive, yet the Many have rejected it.  Now, all gifts are given on the terms of the Giver, so isn’t it curious then, that Man would spurn the God-Given because it is not on his terms?  Oh, the Curse of Pride!  It is Pride then, which gives Christ the pause to wonder if he will find any Faith on earth.

          Lord, the Importunate Widow’s tragedy was her blessing –her poverty robbed her of the luxury of Pride -she was free to beg for mercy.  Oh Holy Spirit of my Lord Jesus, rob me of my Pride.  May my poverty of spirit free me to relentlessly beg your Mercy.  Good Father, I shall ever praise you for sending your Son to make straight the Way.

Today

Today

By your Grace, Lord,

Long Ago has become my Friend

…singing softly of your Power to Save.

And by your same Faithful Grace,

the Darkness of what is Yet To Be,

is a Provocation to Hope

…Reaching back into Now.

For the Past, now conquered

and testifying to your Truth,

is forever consigned

to point to a Future

filled with your Unchanging Mercy.

What was, and what is to be,

is cause to Praise,

to fall deeper in Love.

Lord, I can only love you this Moment Now,

in this your Gift of Today.

Here, you are my Refuge,

my Abode of Truth,

where your Mighty Right Hand sustains me,

where you are the Rock shoring up my feet;

where you cloak me in the Comfort of your Word.

Today, this Sacred Moment Now,

is enough to Be in You.

Happy Tails

Happy Tails

Recently, neurologists discovered that smiling is not merely a result of a happy feeling.  They found that the act of smiling, even when forced, activates an area in our brain which produces a sense of well being; and, that same mood enhancing effect is produced in another’s brain when they view our smile.  Reading this discovery triggered a memory of a silly fantasy I had entertained.

Let me digress.  Our kitchen has a set of French doors to an open back porch.  Every morning as I grope my way to the coffee pot, I am met by our dog, Staush, who lies waiting outside those doors.  As he hears my approaching footsteps, even before he lifts his head, his tail begins to wag.  It never ceases to give me joy.  He remains there as I have my prayer time at the nearby table.  

It was there I happened upon the fantasy (my mind often wanders during prayer.)  It began as I was thanking God for how Lovingly Made is his gift of dog to man –how dogs bring such joy.  If my chair stirs, or I turn my head toward the door, Staush’s tail will start to wag.  It has very long, dense fluffy hair, so it is like a flag waving, saying, “I am happy that you are here with me!”  The joy that his wagging tail evoked within me, caused me to fantasize how wonderful it would be if humans had tails which evoked joy into each other.

God created man out of Love and for Love, so when we are loved, we experience the affirmation of our deepest need, and this, we experienced as Joy.  God is Triune Love -where the identity of the Three Persons dissolve into One, each belonging to the Other.  God created man in His Image.  Such then, explains our need to belong.

So maybe, in creating Man’s Best Friend, God created dog in man’s image.  In giving the dog a driving need to belong to a pack, the dog, like Man, can only be joyful in belonging to another.  

 Now I realize, my secret disappointment in God’s tailless design for us, is for naught.  He did not give us tails because he gave us something much better.  He gave us a Smile.  

A smile is better, not just because a tail would make it harder to wear cloths; it is way better because we can wear a smile when we are happy and when we are not.  Staush doesn’t know his tail is wagging, he just knows he is delighted in my presence, and his tail shouts it so.  A smile can sneak onto our face when we are happy.  But we can also make a smile to make another person happy.

The gift of our smile is as powerful as it is delightful.  With the slightest effort of a smile, we can interject Joy into the life of another –actually bypassing their choice in the matter.  And to possess such a profound power calls us to a profound responsibility.  Does not the Heavens demand, that in possessing such a Precious Gift, which has no cost, that we must give it away –especially to those most in need?

          Two centuries past, Abe Lincoln said, “Smile and you will be happy.”  He understood what neural researchers, only today, have discovered.  Two millennia past, Jesus said, “Smile and make people happy.” (Well, ok, he’s not actually recorded as saying that –I just deduced those words from his Word that was recorded.)  How different we would be, and the world around us, if with every person we meet, we would smile with our ‘Happy Tail’ –we would say, “I am happy that you are here with me!”

Do Not Be Afraid!

Do Not Be Afraid!

My Beloved Child,

You Belong to Me.

The God, who cherishes You,

Holds All Things in existence.

How then, can you be Afraid?

A Leaf cannot Fall,

Nor a Bolt of Lightning let fly

-unless I Permit it.

All who Call upon my Name I Save.

How then, can you be Afraid?

I Am the Lord, your God.

I Know how Tomorrow unfolds.  

I Know the plan of Hope I have for you.  

My promises Belong to You.  

How then, can you be Afraid?

   

My Beloved Child,

You Bear my Name,

Carry my Father’s Love,

and Possess my Holy Spirit.  

Go Forth then,

-in Faith and Joy.

Share what you Know to be True.  

Tell my People,

                                         “Do Not be Afraid!”

He Saw A Man

He Saw A Man (Matthew 9:9)

“As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, 'Follow me'.  And he got up and followed him.”  

         ‘As Jesus was walking on from there…’  Flashback: He had just come from the house where a paralytic was lowered through the roof.  The Pharisees condemned Jesus for forgiving the paralytic’s sins, whereupon Jesus proved the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins by miraculously healing him.

         ‘…he saw a man named Matthew’.  Jesus beheld a tax collector, a Sinner loathed by all, but saw a Man -whom he had called into existence, whom his Father loves, who is alive by the Breath of his Spirit.  Moved by compassion, Jesus called Matthew into his Fold of Friends.  Matthew was Forgiven before he was Friend.

         Later, while celebrating a meal with his New Friend, Jesus was disparaged for associating with sinners.  He replied, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  Go learn the meaning or of the words ‘What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.’ And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.”  (Matthew 9:12-13)

         If it were I in the body and place of Jesus, I would have seen, not Matthew the Man, but a Sinner.  I would have seen the Tax Collector, the Extorter of Widows -who leeched upon the poor, who ate the bread of hungry children; who forced fathers to labor late hours to feed his greed.  I, who had shared the sins of Matthew, who had been Forgiven and called into The Fold, would have yet still seen the Sin.  At best, in my busyness of doing good, I would have judged him ‘not ready’ for The Fold.  

         But the Truth is, I am in the Body and Place of Jesus.  I have answered his call.  I am sent to Forgive the sin; to Embrace the sinner -to Befriend all into The Fold.  It is for me to say, “My brother, I have sinned and been forgiven -and you can be too!  I was sick and have been healed -and you can be too!”  It is for me to say, “Hey Matt, take my hand -let us follow Jesus.  He’s calling us into The Fold!”

        Jesus, I want to love with your Heart, to see with your Eyes.  Wrench from my soul all disparaging thoughts, pride and condescension.  Shield my eyes from the Problems that I may see the Possibilities.  Let not my inclination to judge blind me of Love and Hope.  

         Lord, whoever is touched by your Spirit is made New.  When you bring before me one sickened by sin, as I behold the sickness, let me see the Life to be.  May your Mercy give me eyes to see The Man you are calling into Being.

The Cross

The Cross

                 The Cross is a Darkened Doorway beckoning Sinners.  It is the Mysterious Interface between Fallen Humanity and the Glory of God - the blood stained rocky road of the Christian Way.  The Cross has two faces.  The face we can see is Black, Dark, Of Death –reflecting our Sin.  The face we cannot see, the side facing Glory, is Resplendent –reflecting God’s Light.  

The Cross is about Sin and Redemption; Death and Life.  It is a Pilgramage from Sin and Death into Redemption and Life.  All must take up their Cross.  We must enter into Suffering before we emerge into Glory.

It is the Promise of Glory hidden.  When we take up the Cross, there is no sense of Victory, only Defeat.  To bear the Cross is to Suffer.  There is no comfortable position.  The Cross only shows us our Sin, our Brokenness, our Smallness.  Even Jesus cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’ as the Cross swallowed him into Death. (Matthew 27:45)

No one submits to the Cross, unless bitten by Death, unless Desperate for Life.  Even then, they must first Believe –that Self, has no power over Death, no source for Good, no claim to Eternal Life.  And if then, so humbled, the Soul must yet Believe that Glory and Life can only be found in that Darkened Cross –as when the Israelites looked up upon the Bronze Serpent Moses prescribed.   They could turn, to that which was Lowly and Raised High, or die. (Numbers 21:4-9)

If the Cross is cause for Hope, it is even more so a Quandary of Faith -for, the Tree of Life is Dark Mystery.  The Cross is Mystery because its Work is contrary to its Fruit: Dying yields Life; Suffering yields Joy; Surrender yields Victory; and Obedience yields Freedom.  The Cross is Dark -we neither taste, nor see, nor feel the Saving Fruit of its Work –we must Blindly Believe we are being Saved...

...As when the Hammer Of God beats the Sword into a Plowshare (Isaiah 2:4): every blow of the Hammer disorients the Sword; each painful blow robs the Sword of its Status and Might; each transforming blow diminishes, with Unrelenting Mercy, everything the Sword once held with Pride.  The Sword is blind to its Transformation.  And even if, the Hammer Bearer should relent a peek of the Plowshare-To-Be, the vision would be reviled.

What, but desperation, would allow the Sword to submit to the hammer?  What, but Mercy, could arrange such fate?  Dare the Sword expect to understand the Cross?  No language of words can possibly explain -and to experience the Cross only blurs its meaning.  Are we then, condemned to suffer its Inexplicable Blows without the comfort of Meaning?  Was the Son of God spared Darkness in the Sixth Hour?

What mortal possesses such Virtue?  What Sinner can summon this Cross?  Who standing, can submit to its Stripes?  “…they were astonished. 'Who then, can be saved?' they asked.  Jesus gazed at them. 'For men, he told them 'this is impossible; for God, everything is possible.'” (Matthew 19:25)

In Truth, we do not choose the Cross –in Mercy, it finds us.  In Truth, we do not carry its weight –in Mercy, Jesus still bears its Burden.  “Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.  For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

We do not save ourselves –it is the Dark Mysterious Cross, reaching through time and space, with the Eternal Loving Blood of Jesus, carrying us -as Shepherd with Lamb against breast.  No matter how Weak, or Naked, or Alone we feel in the Darkness of the Cross, the Love of Jesus secures us, as surely as  Nails to the Wood, until He brings us into Glory.

           In the end, the Cross is the Divine instrument of Mercy: bringing Meaning to our Suffering; Forgiveness for our Sins; and Healing into our lives.  It is the Portal of God’s Love, through which he snatches us …in our Desperate need to be Saved.                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Desire For God –Psalm 63

Desire For God –Psalm 63

 

“God, you are my God, I am seeking you, my soul is thirsting for you, my flesh is longing for you, a land parched, weary and waterless; I long to gaze on you in the Sanctuary …” (Ps 63:1)

 

          Lord, your Word is a Love Song –a Revelation of what Love awaits the Soul seeking its Creator.  We are created for You.  Our entire Being, body and soul, Longs for You, as parched earth for water.  Yet, our nature cannot hold this Truth, having only vague Feelings of Incompleteness, as we gaze upon your stars.

 

“…and to see your power and glory …Your love is better than life itself, my lips will recite your praise; all my life I will bless you, in your name lift up my hands; my soul will feast most richly, on my lips a song of joy and, in my mouth, praise.” (Ps 63:2-5)

 

When Grace kisses our Blindness, and we are Awakened from Death; when your Light emblazons our soul, our heart swoons at Love’s First Taste.  When your Spirit fills our soul, as wind a sail, Love’s Joy demands a Response -your Praises must be sung.  Our heart is flung toward You, our journey toward Union begins.

 

“On my bed I think of you, I meditate on you all night long for you have always helped me.  I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings; my soul clings close to you, your right hand supports me.” (Ps 63:6-8)

         Having dipped our Dry Morsel into the Wine of your Cup, we can only desire more.  Our Lowliness is displaced with Glory, our Tears transcend to Song.  Love’s Yearning longs to Cling –as a child to Mother, as beloved to Spouse, until two become One.  Only in You, oh Lord, is our soul at Rest.

I Know My Name

I Know My Name

He was a mangy looking dog.  Abandoned as a puppy, he grew up in the streets.  Master found him in the shelter the day before he was to be put down, for he was an unsightly dog that no one would adopt.  Master brought him home, and gave him a bath that made him all shiny and clean.  That is when then he got his name -Toby.

Just as his coat was getting fluffy and dry, Master went to check the barn.  As soon as Toby saw the door open, he bolted out in a flash.  Master called out his name, “Toby!  Come back to Me!”  But Toby did not know his name -he did not know Who he belonged to, and he did not know the plans of His Master. Toby just ran as fast as he could.

Master found him again in the shelter, all matted with filth, but He loved him all the more.  Toby spent time with Master.  He ate with Him, slept at the foot of His bed, and followed Him like a shadow.  He came to love the smell of Master, and his tail now waged at the sound of His Voice.

In knowing the love of Master, Toby grew devoted to Him.  He now understood that he belonged to Master.  When he heard Master’s truck, He ran to meet Him.  When Master called his name, he went bounding to Him.  He sought the touch of Master’s tender hands.  When Master said, “Fetch the sheep!” he delighted in chasing them into Master’s barn.  And when Master said, “Watch the sheep!”, he proudly protected them -he would even die for them.

If Master said, “Come!”, and pointed to the truck, he would be overcome with joy to ride with Master, so much so, that he would act like a puppy.  And when Master said, “Stay!”, Toby’s wag would slow a little, but he would dutifully guard the Master’s house.

At day’s end, Toby would lay at Master’s feet.  It was there, in that time without words, with eyes lightly shut, that he felt especially close.  But if he sensed the slightest stir, the eye closest to Master would peek open, and his tail would begin to wag with expectant joy.

    Toby had become faithful to Master.  Everything he did, he did for Master.  Toby had come a long way since that wonderful, fearful day Master saved him.  It only took a week or so, to learn the name by which he was called.  But now, as the years have gone by, Toby, in his heart of hearts, has come to know the Name which makes him belong to Master!

Until we know our name, until we know who we really are, and who we belong to, we will not recognize the Voice who is calling.  “When that day comes - it is Yahweh who speaks - …I will betroth you to myself for ever, betroth you with integrity and justice, with tenderness and love; I will betroth you to myself with faithfulness, and you will come to know Yahweh.  …I will love Unloved; I will say to No-People-of-Mine, 'You are my people', and he will answer, 'You are my God'.” (Hosea 2:18)

         And as years go by 0f having been loved by Jesus, we can look back and remember that wonderful fearful day when he saved us -when our ears were opened, when we could recognize His Voice, when we could hear his Spirit whisper those Words we are all so desperate to hear, “You are My Beloved.  I created you Good.  You are Precious in My sight, and you belong to Me!”

The Door

The Door

         What’s up with The Door?  Two Gospels make reference to The Door which locks us out of God’s Presence.  Matthew 25:10 refers to the Foolish Bridesmaids caught unprepared by the Bridegroom’s arrival.  They begged to be let in, but the The Door to the banquet hall was already locked, and the Bridegroom said to them, “I do not know you.”  Luke 13:25 refers to the Master, who after a long day’s work, got up from supper, and locked The Door to go to bed.  To the stragglers who begged, ‘Lord, open to us’, the Master said, “I do not know where you come from.”  In both Gospels, those locked out are condemned as Strangers to God.

         Lest we portray Jesus as mercilessly cruel, there is a third reference to The Door –one with a profound nuance.  In Revelations 3:20, John also references The Door which separates the Unrepentant Sinner from Jesus, but this time, it is Jesus who is begging to be allowed to come in: “Behold, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share his meal, side by side with him.”  

         In all three cases The Door separates us from Jesus.  In Matthew and Luke, The Door keeps us from Jesus, yet in Revelations, The Door keeps Jesus from us.  In Matthew and Luke, the Sinner does not control the lock.  Yet, in John, the Sinner controls the lock.  So, what is The Door and how does its lock work?

         Clearly, The Door is the consequence of personal sin, for sin separates us from God.  Sin renounces the Reign of God over our life as it exalts the Reign of Self over God.  Sin is the bottom line of where we stand in relationship to God.  We are cast as Strangers, not because Jesus does not know our name, or where we were born, but because our selfish life is foreign to him –he knows only the Will of the Father.  He cannot relate to disobedience, nor can the Disobedient relate to him.

         If The Door is the consequence of sin, then the lock speaks to the ‘eternal-ness’ of that consequence.  Matthew and Luke plainly describe, that once The Door is shut, it cannot be opened –yet, John clearly has Jesus hoping it will open again.  Why the difference?  The difference is not so much ‘why’ as ‘when’ -for the ‘when’ makes all the difference in the world.

         In Matthew and Luke, The Door is locked at the coming of Night.  Scripture tells us we have but one life to live, and then we are judged.  Like the Bridesmaids, ‘we do not know either the day or the hour’ of that All Important Moment -when our ultimate destiny becomes Eternally Chosen.

         And lest we portray this Sober Truth as mercilessly cruel, John, the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved, leaves us with the Hope of Mercy –with the Sacred Heart of Jesus knocking at The Door of our heart, begging that we trust him to become Lord in our life.  While we yet breathe, we are in the Season of Mercy –repenting of our selfish ways immediately opens The Door to the Bridegroom who so Desires our heart.

Who Then Can Be Saved?

Who Then Can Be Saved? (Mt 19)

         Matthew’s 19th chapter sets the stage for the Coming Kingdom.  The first half paints God’s picture of marriage –how Two Souls consecrating themselves for the Other, become melded as One; how this Unity of Love points to our destiny in God; and how children, the fruit of Espoused Union, are the precious embodiment Love’s Offspring, of the New Life which awaits all who give themselves to the Name Above All Names.

         The second half of chapter 19 illuminates the path to this Mystical Union.  It wets our appetite for what is universally repugnant –the Renunciation of Self.  Matthew begins with Jesus’ encounter with the Rich Young Man who asks, 'Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?'  When Jesus said, 'If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me'  the young man went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

         Jesus then solemnly tells his disciples '… it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.'  With wealth as the insurance of our dreams, our path can only lead away from Christ.

Bewildered, the disciples ask, 'Who then, can be saved?'  It was a rhetorical question.  They were not asking as though seeking Truth, but as knowing the answer.  Since wealth was considered a sign of God’s favor; and because the rich young man was leading an exemplary life, the answer must surely be that no one can be saved.

Their expectation was kind of right, but totally wrong.  Yes, without a Savior, there is no hope of salvation.  Yet, all mankind was predestined to know the Eternal Love of its Creator.  In this revolutionary moment, Christ pierces the Darkened Mind of Man with the Light of His Truth -He reveals Hope for our Salvation.

Matthew says “Jesus gazed at them.”  He lovingly looked into their troubled souls and gave them that Anchor of Hope when he said, 'For men, this is impossible; for God everything is possible.'  In the end, the Love of our Father will conquer Sin.  All that is required is to renounce the transitory love of our Self for the Eternal Love of God.  But as great a deal as it must have seemed, even greater still must have been the disciples gloom, for they knew well the Weakness of Man.  

         Even though they had the assurance of Christ’s Promise, they would not reap the Repose of its Restful Waters until after Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Pentecost.  Only then, could they take hold of Hope, and have the Power to live in its Promise.  The Blood of the Cross, the Hope of Resurrection, and the Power of the Holy Spirit broke the chains of sin which condemned us to the worship of Self over God.

         This is the Mystery of Grace, that in choosing Christ, the fear, of losing our all, dissolves into the infilling of his Love.  In giving away what we possess, we become possessed by the Giver of All.  As we surrender our Old Self into his Love, we are freed into New Life.  Even now, Jesus is gazing into our eyes, beckoning us to lose ourselves into his Spousal Love –to live for him, in him and with him.  

         Lord Jesus, what I have possessed has often possessed me, blinding me to Life in Love with you.  Do not allow me to be deceived by my selfish dreams, but open my eyes to your Truth, to your Dream for me.  Do not let me walk away sad, but empower me with your Holy Spirit to desire only what you desire for me, that I may run to do the Will of our Father, that I may know the Joy of your Spousal Love. 

This Little Child

This Little Child (Matthew 18:1-4)

         “At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'  So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them.  Then he said, 'I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

         Why were the disciples asking this question of Jesus?  The context of Jesus’ response suggests they probably were jostling amongst themselves as to who was the most “together” disciple.   It is also probable, that the answer Jesus gave, was not at all what they expected.

         They probably expected Jesus’ rendition of ‘The Greatest’ to be the one who, best understood his sayings; or, was the most faithful to his commands; or, worked the hardest; or, was the most gifted; or maybe even, the one who loved the most. But, the fact that they asked the question, guaranteed they were clueless to the response Jesus would give.  The Fullness of Truth was still waiting for their minds to be opened by the Spirit of Pentecost.  

         That the essence of ‘The Greatest’ would not be found among the wise, but rather, in a Little Child, was beyond radical.  It was unimaginable.   Our future in Christ’s Kingdom was not to be achieved by what we might do for God, but in our openness to what God can do for us.  We secure our Grand Destiny by surrendering into Smallness – by wholly accepting the unmerited Love of God, Creator of all that Is.

         The celebrated philosopher Descartes, in exploring the nature of reality, surmised, “I think, therefore I am.”   His brilliant mind carried him to this lofty conclusion -that thoughts of self-awareness prove the reality of our existence.  Yet, Descartes’ grasp of reality pales in the profundity of God’s revealed Truth –that we came into existence by a thought of God; and, that we are sustained in existence, only because he continues to have thought of us.  For God cannot stop thinking of what he has created in Love.

         If Descartes had the mind of a ‘Little Child’ theologian, he may well have written, “God loves me, therefore I am.”  We must become as a Little Child in order to grasp this Truth. For, this is how a Little Child thinks: “Mommy and Daddy cherish me -because I Belong to them, because I share their Name.”   Anything other than being the apple of their parents’ eye is inconceivable. The love and devotion of Mommy and Daddy is unquestioned.

         In the mind of a child: As long as I am holding the Fingers of Daddy, the path is not dark.  As long as Mommy caresses my cheek, the monsters in the closet are powerless.  As long as I am held in their arms, no hurt can overpower their comfort.  This is the place to which we are being called in our relationship with The Father of All.

          Jesus said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change….’.  In life, our default mission is to ‘grow up’ -to provide for ourselves; to take control; to make our own decisions.  Now Jesus upsets our applecart, demanding we ‘become like little children’.  Like Nicodemus, we ask, ‘Can I go back into my mother’s womb and be born again?’  And so it is that Jesus beckons us to submit to a heart transplant -to recreate our heart into that of a Little Child.  Like all things spiritual, this quest depends upon Faith – not a faith in God, but a faith in God’s Love for us.

         Lord Jesus, I am because you Love me.  Help me to Trust in your Love -that you have only Good in store for me.  I believe this, but it is not how I yet live.  I want to live according to your Perfect Will for me –to fulfill the Purpose for which you created me.  I surrender into the Mystery of your ways.  Draw me into the Womb of your Holy Spirit.  Re-Create what Sin has disfigured.  May I be Reborn into the image of my Father.  May I carry your Name knowing that you cherish me.  I receive your Embrace now.  No hurt or evil can overpower the comfort of your All-Providing Love.