One of the reasons I enjoy reading a variety of things is
because of new ideas that come my way.
Of course, I read quite a bit of religious and spiritual material. But I like a range of other things, too. I actually enjoy reading about contemporary
science discoveries. And the whole
psychological world fascinates me, mostly because all human beings are
psychological beings. I read a piece
recently that combined most of these different areas.
The article was written by a Franciscan Sister, Sr. Ilio
Delio, and it contained the gist of her comments to a gathering of religious
women. On the surface this seems like a
boring read. In fact, I found it
fascinating. In the first place, I was
quite intrigued by the theology inherent in the text. By theology I mean her view of God and how
God works in our world. Clearly, she is well
versed in the scientific way of viewing our world---our cosmos. I am always inspired by someone who has a
deep faith in God and a mature, contemporary understanding of the world in
which we live.
Let’s listen to a few words from this Franciscan sage. She says, “A dynamic universe provokes the
idea and the understanding of a dynamic God.”
I like the combination of these two ideas---that of a dynamic universe
and of a dynamic God. The two do seem to
go together in my mind. And then she
adds another sentence that must work very well in her speeches. Delio notes, “This is not a stay-at-home
God.” Surely this line is a guaranteed
laugh-getter. I laughed. I agree: God is not the kind of Being who
would stay at home. God is active in
this dynamic universe.
Delio pushes on to flesh out her understanding of this
dynamic Being who is at work in this dynamic universe. She says, “This is a God who is deeply
immersed in a love affair with the beloved, the creation which flows out of his
divine heart.” This is powerful stuff
for me personally. I very much like her
language. She talks about a God who is
deeply immersed in a love affair. Of
course, that is a daring, perhaps, jolting description of God. But I think it makes a bold case for the God
she knows and the God I want very much to know.
I appreciate hearing about a God who is so passionate that
God would become involved in a love affair.
The reason God is so deeply immersed in this love affair is precisely
because of the intimate relationship God has with the universe---with God’s
creation---and each of us within that creation.
The creation flowed out of the divine heart of God. That is to say, each one of us and the entire
universe comes from the deepest core of who God is, namely, God’s heart.
This says to me that God bears each one of us at the deepest
part of the Divine Self---the very heart of who God is. And it does not stop there, according to Sr.
Delio. She comments that “To say that
God is love is to mean that God is eternally and dynamically in love.” How else would you posit a divine love affair
unless that God who created us continues to hold us dear to the Divine
heart? This is not a momentary thing by
a stay-at-home God.
To the contrary, the God dynamically immersed in a love
affair with God’s beloved is a God who is eternally in love. This God does not take time-outs. This God does not periodically visit the
world and then check out for a time.
Rather, our God is eternally and intimately involved with all of us all
of the time. We may not know it because
we pay no attention. But God is there
nevertheless all the time and everywhere.
When we begin to pay attention, we come to know something
about this divine love affair that has been going on all the time. We come to know the power and the profundity
of this Divine care. The dynamism of the
Divinity is directed toward ourselves.
We can experience the “just-for-me” presence of God. In our heads we know that God is
“just-for-everyone.” But that does not
lessen the fact that God is here for me---right now and right here.
Most of us probably do not know what is involved in a love
affair. The love affair with God almost
literally knocks us off our feet. We are
left gasping for air and for more! It
seems almost unbelievable and yet is quite undeniable.
There are only a couple responses that are appropriate. In the first response we are utterly grateful
for this gift of grace. We have been
loved at our core that leaves us never needing more. And secondly, our response should be to take
us out of ourselves and into the cosmic love affair with God. We desire to join God in dynamically caring
for the world and all those within the world.
This is the power of God’s love affair.
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