The love of God

John 3: 16 - 21

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son...."

John 3: 16 must be the most memorized verse in Scripture. A verse all of us were taught when we first became Christians. A verse we ourselves share with others when we bring the gospel to them. It is God's love we responded to when we first made a commitment to Christ. It is God's love that continues to be the foundation of all that we are and do. As we go on through the years, living the Christian life, how often do we consciously immerse ourselves in God's love, to deepen our sense of being lovable and loved even with all our imperfections and limitations? This sense of knowing we are the beloved of God gives us our true spiritual identity. I once read a book that asked the question: Is your 'love tank' full or empty? A good question to ask ourselves from time to time. As Christians, we are assured of God's love and we have experienced it, but we become a little ragged in our awareness of it within the many challenges of life.

Over the years, having gone on different types of retreats, I find the dynamics of the Ignatian retreat model most helpful in bringing us back to the foundational experience of God's love. The retreat as a whole is to bring one towards an ever deepening commitment to God. The retreat starts with a time of dwelling in God's love, and recalling the many experiences of it in one's life. In my own experience and in listening to the experiences of others, this foundational period is crucial because we all have blind spots with regard to how we actually view God - our operative as opposed to our professed images of God. If I have at the back of my mind the image of God as a demanding tyrant or a condemning judge, I would be ambivalent about opening myself fully to him. I could still be a 'good and upright' Christian, but I may remain one who serves dutifully to avoid God's judgment rather than one who serves because I have personally experienced his love. I believe that all of us, whether or not we can go on retreat, should take 'time-out' from our busy lives, to spend some time each day, 10 to 15 minutes perhaps, just dwelling in God's loving embrace. Our be-ing and our be-coming depend on experiencing our belovedness.

"Almighty and ever-watchful God, You are beginning and end, alpha and omega. You start all things, and bring all things back to Yourself. Nothing in me could have made You love me or forced You to want me to be. Since before I came to be, You have loved me with an everlasting love, and now, Your totally free love burns at the core of my life, at the core of my self. I acknowledge You Creator and Lord, once at the start of all things and always, all days, as the beginning of all things. Amen " (Joseph Tetlow)