Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Becoming the Beloved
“I am thoroughly convinced that the origin and goal of our existence have everything to do with the ways we think, talk, and act in our daily lives. When our deepest truth is that we are Beloved and when our greatest joy and peace come from fully claiming that truth, it follows that this has to become visible and tangible in the ways we eat and drink, talk and love, play and work. When the deepest currents of our life no longer have any influence on the waves at the surface, then our vitality will eventually ebb, and we will end up listless and bored even when we are busy.”pages 46-47
Comic books and films about superheroes often include “origin stories” that tell us where the hero comes from, and what experiences have shaped their desire for justice. Those origins spur them on to action because, as Nouwen points out, our deepest truth “has to become visible and tangible” in how we live.
Sometimes we make excuses for the sins that we or other people commit by saying, “well, they don’t know what I meant” or “only God can see her/his heart”. But those are just excuses. As we are seeing in the movement for racial justice in this country, intentions take us nowhere. Actions speak. The words of the song still ring true, “they will know we are Christians by our love.” Pray that you will know the love of God so deeply that you cannot help but show it in how you live.
Question to Ponder: How might we show the love of God to others in ways that don’t make excuses for sin, but reflect Christ-like humility?
Becoming the Beloved
“I am thoroughly convinced that the origin and goal of our existence have everything to do with the ways we think, talk, and act in our daily lives. When our deepest truth is that we are Beloved and when our greatest joy and peace come from fully claiming that truth, it follows that this has to become visible and tangible in the ways we eat and drink, talk and love, play and work. When the deepest currents of our life no longer have any influence on the waves at the surface, then our vitality will eventually ebb, and we will end up listless and bored even when we are busy.”pages 46-47
Comic books and films about superheroes often include “origin stories” that tell us where the hero comes from, and what experiences have shaped their desire for justice. Those origins spur them on to action because, as Nouwen points out, our deepest truth “has to become visible and tangible” in how we live.
Sometimes we make excuses for the sins that we or other people commit by saying, “well, they don’t know what I meant” or “only God can see her/his heart”. But those are just excuses. As we are seeing in the movement for racial justice in this country, intentions take us nowhere. Actions speak. The words of the song still ring true, “they will know we are Christians by our love.” Pray that you will know the love of God so deeply that you cannot help but show it in how you live.
Question to Ponder: How might we show the love of God to others in ways that don’t make excuses for sin, but reflect Christ-like humility?
This week’s devotions are adapted from the book, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World by Henri J.M. Nouwen. Crossroad Publishing, New York. 2014.
