Kindness

I read over the texts of today and finally land on Isaiah 54: 1-10.  Isaiah 40-66 is a description of the promises of God to his people following the exile.  It describes to me the nature of God as I have experienced God in my life.

But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.

The prophet is telling the children of Israel about Yahweh who is kind, merciful and in an enduring relationship with them - a covenant of peace. As I read this today, I think how much my life has been about trying to help people to experience the presence of our God of kindness, mercy and peace.  That is what I want worship to be about, and sermons and retreats and spiritual direction.  

The exile is one of the major themes of the Bible and it is a good one.  In the original story of exile, after Israel was defeated by the Babylonians, the righteous remnant were sent to live in Babylon.  Someone called it the "clash of kingdoms" as they live in a culture that was so different from theirs. They were strangers in a strange land trying to live out their faith in a very different environment.

As I try to prepare for this Advent I am aware of that as well today.  The materialism and the consumerism of the Christmas season can certainly get in the way of worshiping the baby born in a stable and following his way of peace and kindness and mercy.  I remember reading years ago a commentator suggest that preaching against consumerism during Christmas was like spitting into the wind.  

I also despair of the way some people's faith and description of God and Jesus leans into judgment and without mercy. Every year fewer and fewer people identify as Christians as the message of love and grace gets distorted.

All of this is to say that this season is a time to reflect on the nature of God and the gift and message of the birth of Jesus.  It is all about a love that is born again into the humblest of places and a love that wants to come again and be born in us.  It is about kindness, mercy and an everlasting covenant relationship that God wants to have with us.

So today I put in this blog one of my favorite prayers/ poems that describes what is essential in my relationship with God - love.  That has to be the center of it all. 

Let Your God Love You (by Edwina Gateley)

Be silent.
Be still.
Alone.
Empty
Before your God.
Say nothing.
Ask nothing.
Be silent.
Be still.
Let your God look upon you.
That is all.
God knows.
God understands.
God loves you
With an enormous love,
And only wants
To look upon you
With that love.
Quiet.
Still.
Be.

Let your God—
Love you.