“Neither Death, Nor Life….Nor any Other Creature…”

Thank you to Susan Stabile… writing on her blog, “Creo en Dios! “, she eloquently comments on her powerful personal revelation of Paul’s claim in the 8th chapter of Romans that nothing can separate us from the love of God:

“As I was sitting in prayer, I became overwhelmed with a sense of God’s love and realized in that moment in a way far more profound than I had before that when we say God is love we literally mean it.  That is, I was struck with the reality that love is not a choice on God’s part.  It is not that God can love me or not love me.  God ONLY loves, and my very creation and continued existence is an act of God’s love. There is no me separate from God’s love; without God’s love there would not be me.”

Read her entire post here:  “Neither Death, Nor Life….Nor any Other Creature…”.

God’s Vulnerability

There is an article in Time magazine this week entitled “The Pessimism Index.” The writer reports on a recent poll of Americans in which we noted just how gloomy our future appears. One sentence caught my eye: that we are feeling a “sense of inevitable vulnerability.”

Inevitable vulnerability. Unavoidable helplessness. Certainty of exposure.

In our interpersonal relationships we speak of vulnerability

Breath of God

I begin my second year of seminary participating in a Clinical Pastoral Education program for the summer. “Participating” might not be an adequate description: “living CPE” for the summer is probably more accurate. It is, by design, a period of intense involvement in the hospital setting with people in crises for the purpose of helping them cope, learning new insights and skills of ministry, and increasing awareness of ourselves as ministers.

As the initial week of orientation drew to a close, the eleven of us intern “chaplains” were dispatched out to our assigned units to visit with patients. Knowing nothing more than a name, age and a two word description of why the patient was hospitalized, I wondered how I would be received (or rejected), would I say the correct things, would I be helpful, would I be respectful of other faith traditions. Would I remember to listen.

Common Language

“Hello.”

He approached me from behind, appearing on my left side. He wanted to talk. In English.

We were walking along the marble paths at the Mausoleum Memorial of Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Nanjing, China.

“Do you speak Chinese?” he asked. “No,” I responded, “but your English is very good.” “Thank you,” he smiled.

Like me, he was traveling to the beautiful, grand memorial on a school trip. In addition to seeing the gardens, monuments and statues, my 13 year old friend was being afforded the opportunity to talk with an American.

It seems very basic, and in reality it is. But somehow, for some reason, we have made it so complicated.

Accepting Our Acceptance

Our world is judgmental. We evaluate, critique, and assess, and more often than not, share our findings with others. I’m not a big fan of American Idol, but I have seen enough to know that this season’s Judges are a pretty kind and gracious trio. They coach the competitors and suggest improvements in a non-threatening and considerate manner. The professional critics loathe the new demeanor, but the people watching the show love it!