Lectio
“The fly that clings to honey hinders its flight, and the soul that allows itself attachment to spiritual sweetness hinders its own liberty and contemplation.”
— St. John of the Cross, Sayings of Light and Love
Meditatio
From time to time, the Lord graces us with moments of blissful consolation that brighten our lives and give us a taste of the sweetness of His love. These glimpses into heaven come when we least expect them. We can neither force them nor demand or earn them. Without warning or warrant, they just come from a source mysterious and unseen, and they often leave just as quickly and unceremoniously.
In a moment of deep prayer where clarity descends upon you. Seeing the smile of a loved one that inspires the same in you. Experiencing the unexpected kindness of a stranger that melts your cynicism. A raindrop on your face that stops you in your tracks without explanation. A rainbow in the distance or a starry night that takes your breath away. Or even just an unexplainable moment of pause while washing the dishes, preparing a meal, or folding the laundry. God speaks to us in our experience. He consoles us with His presence in the very ordinariness of our daily lives.
But God’s consolation is not God Himself. The gifts He bestows upon us to draw us nearer to Him are not Him. And so if we attach ourselves to His consolation, to His gifts, rather than to Him, we are hindering our own journey of communion with Him for His own sake. God does not want us to cling to His expressions of love, nor even to love itself, but to, in total surrender and obediential fidelity, to Him as He is. After all, God is not the God of our feelings or our attachments, but the God that is — the God “I am.”
God’s gift, in its purest and truest form, is Godself, and that is what He wants for us — to receive Himself, unconditionally, unhesitatingly, and unencumbered by the finitude of our self-centered desires and perceptions. And so even His sweetness becomes a hindrance if we desire it above Him. Even His consolation becomes a false idol if we seek it rather than Him. Let us then receive Him, through His gifts, but also through their absence, for He is never not with us. He is never not giving Himself to us, even when, or perhaps especially when, we do not feel the goodness of His gifts and the sweetness of His kiss.
Oratio
Left To Choose
Your sweet nectar
Your sweet scent
I am drawn to You
though it is not You
I am drawn to
rather Your sweet touch
Your sweet smell
Your sweet taste
what You give
what I take
not what You are
not who You are
until it is gone
all of Your sweetness
and all that remains
is You
leaving me to choose
Contemplatio
Nothing you were given was ever meant to replace Him — only to point toward Him. Let every sweetness dissolve until only He remains. Sit in that plain, unadorned presence, and consent to let Him hold you there.
Related Scripture
“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Not by Knowing, But by Loving: Brother Lawrence and the Practice of Simple Love, which turns from a different angle toward the same refusal to settle for a lesser substitute for God Himself — trading the desire to know more for the choice to love more.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
Leave a Reply