Lectio
“Were we to have the tiniest glimpse of God, we would lose desire for anything else.”
— Ruth Burrows
Meditatio
There is an invisible thread of grace that connects our hearts to God. It is an unbreakable thread that keeps us tethered to his love and mercy. And by this thread, we are gently and persistently drawn into union with him.
While we cannot break this connection to our creator in whose love we are being perpetually created, for it is as much a part of us as our very breath, our blood, our bones, and our flesh — nearer to us than we are to ourselves — like Adam and Eve, we can try to live without it, attempting to be God without God. Like Israel, we can forget it and turn away from it. Like Peter, we can deny it. Like Judas, we can betray it. Like Thomas, we can doubt it. And like the disciples in the garden, we can flee from it when the cost of remaining feels too great.
But once we feel the reality of this connection, if, in a graced moment of awakening we are given a glimpse of what this thread truly is — and if we are willing — we are changed by it. We are quickened. Our hearts burn and our eyes are opened, and we wish never to return to our self-imposed exile again. What seemed a fragile, invisible thread has proven to be nothing less than God’s own self, offered to us from within.
And so we slowly begin to surrender to love’s pull, allowing ourselves to be drawn by and into the source of the very love that was awakened within us. Along the way, we will stumble, we will fall, and we will be tempted to fall asleep or run away, but deep down we know that love will not let us go, and by this we are comforted. In this we are free. Through this, we are made whole and brought home into Love.
Oratio
the gentle pull
from Heart to heart
draws me
into love’s awaiting arms
though I may forget
deny
doubt
or sometimes turn away
I am forever drawn
nearer to Love
deeper in Love
into abandoning
all that is not Love
Contemplatio
Can you recall a moment when what seemed a fragile thread of love proved to be something far greater and more reliable than you imagined?
Related Scripture
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” — Jeremiah 31:3 (NRSVCE)
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Awakened by Love: Christ’s Yes, Our Yes, and the Sleep We Leave Behind, which explores how the graced moment of awakening draws us from spiritual slumber into the love that has already claimed us — and how Christ’s yes becomes the ground of our own.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
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