.JPG)
Photo by Rodger (edited by me), used with permission.
As is so often the case, I do not know what I will write about tonight - except that it will be about Love.
My day started out on a note of deep sadness. Life slipped away from a baby while still in his/her mother's womb. A baby, awaited with much joy and anticipation and preparation, losing life only weeks before he/she was due to emerge into our world.
I wonder why this little one was was granted such a very short life span. And I wonder why his/her parents must now face this profound loss - why a mother must deliver a baby who has already died. My heart cries for them.
And yet, all day a song has been running through my mind, the words of refrain proclaiming, "How broad, how high, how deep His love...Praise Christ the Lord." These words are derived from the New Testament letter to the Ephesians (3: 14-21):
For this reason I kneel before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory
to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
that you, rooted and grounded in love,
may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to accomplish
far more than all we ask or imagine,
by the power at work within us,
to him be glory...
As I gaze upon the image provided by my spiritual brother, Rodger, I am reminded of how broad and long and high and deep God's love is. How broad is our world and its beauty, how great is the length of the coast separating land from sea, how high is the sky and how deep the ocean. Yet these are as nothing compared to the vastness and depth of our Creator's love.
For our Creator has chosen to be called, "Father", to draw us in to family with Him...He has made Himself one of us in His son, the Christ, that He might dwell in our very hearts...He gives us strength in our suffering by rooting and grounding us in His love...a love that surpasses all human understanding and knowledge... accomplishing "far more than all we ask or imagine"...
His love is broad enough to cover a whole world's sins. His love is long enough to last for all eternity and high enough to stretch beyond our imaginings. His love is deep enough to reach into the deepest sufferings of our hearts - and to dwell there with us, holding us tenderly.
Even in the face of all of the tragedies and difficulties of this life, we must never forget His love. For if we forget, who will carry that love to the hearts now breaking?
Let us open our hearts and allow Love to dwell deep within. As we carry His Love to others (and others carry it to us), we learn what it means to become one with God.
