God is love
the love that connects you
to all that is
whether or not you admit it
accept it
or even like it
love is in
around
and through you
for out of love you were formed
in love you exist
and to love you shall return
though now you may turn away
from God
from your neighbor
even from your truest self
love never turns away from you
for the essence of your being
your underlying substance
your very nature
is love itself
awaiting patiently
as love does
your consent
your awareness
your acceptance of the truth
that made in God’s image
you too are made of
for
to love
~Robert Van Valkenburgh
Reflection:
This Oratio Divina invites us to rest in a truth both simple and demanding: God is love, and nothing about our existence lies outside that love. Before belief, before obedience, even before understanding, love already surrounds us, sustains us, and holds us together. We may resist it, doubt it, or turn away from it, but love does not withdraw in response. It waits.
To say that we are made in God’s image is to say that love is not merely something we do, but something we are. Beneath our fear, our striving, and our fractured sense of self lies an underlying substance that has never been withdrawn: divine love itself. This love does not force, accuse, or demand. Like all true love, it waits patiently for consent—for awareness, acceptance, and return.
Oratio is the prayer of response. Here, the response is not performance or perfection, but permission. Permission to be loved. Permission to stop fleeing our own depth. Permission to believe that returning to love is not a journey outward, but a remembering of what has always been true. In consenting to love, we consent to our own becoming.
Reflection Question:
Where in your life might you be resisting love—toward God, others, or yourself—and what would it look like to gently open your heart to its presence today?
Related Scripture:
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” — 1 John 4:7–8 (ESV)
Related post:
If this meditation resonates, you may also find depth and stillness in Never Knew Silence, a companion reflection on resting in God’s presence.
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