[W]e know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8.28)
St. Paul says that God both initiates and cooperates in all human growth. God "works together with" us, which means both our workings are crucial. Every moment, God is trying to expand our freedom. Can you imagine that?
God is trying to make this choice more alive, more vital, more clear, more true. God even uses our mistakes and our sin in that regard. Nothing at all is wasted. I believe that's profoundly true. If that's not the providence of God, what else would be "providential"?
The provident care of God is that God is working for our wholeness, for our liberation, probably more than we are.
Richard Rohr, from Radical Grace: Daily Meditations, p. 187
True sanctity does not consist in trying to live without creatures [material goods]. It consists in using the goods of life in order to do the will of God. It consists in using God's creation in such a way that everything we touch and see and use and love gives new glory to God.
Thomas Merton, Seasons of Celebration, p. 137
These things being true, our broken lives must look different to us from now on. The things we regret, the pain that crushes our chests in the hours before dawn, the wrongs we have done, and the wrongs done to us, are not the waste places we thought they were, but are the fertile soil of Christ's mercy:
I know a place, a wonderful place
Where accused and condemned
Find mercy and grace
Where the wrongs we have done
And the wrongs done to us
Were nailed there with You
There on the Cross.Randy & Terry Butler, 'At the Cross' (Vineyard Music, Touching the Father's Heart #17)
5 comments:
Well, whatever is going on in your life, it's obviosly intense.
I have really enjoyed these last several posts. Romans 8:28 I always steer way around -- someone quoted it to me once during what I was under the impression was a difficult time in life, because I had no idea what difficult could really mean -- and I basically never spoke to him again -- but you have posted a number of things which really speak to me.
Gannet Girl, I'm glad these recent posts have spoken to you. Sometimes I wonder if anyone will have an inkling what on earth I'm on about.
You say, "whatever is going on in your life," but I'm not being coy, honestly! I truly don't know what's happening. As I said in an email to a friend this morning, "I really can say, with all reverence, God knows what's going on!"
Your post reminds me of a thought I had about one of the parables -- how the gardener urged the folks to fertilize the barren tree and give it time to grow and develop and not to cut it down right away. It occurred to me that somehow we must bring the "manure" of our lives to bear on our situation. Sometimes the apparently dark and negative (and smelly) aspects of our lives are what gives it ferment, the ability to blossom. If the Creator can turn waste into delicate flowers and delicious fruit, then why do we not expect the same in our own lives? All manner of things will be well.
Barbara, that is beautiful! Julian had it sussed, didn't she? All those years ago, writing in her little cell in Norwich, and today her words are so entirely right for what's happening here... God is good, beyond anything we can imagine!
I love this post! I am an avid gardener. The soil for me is a living, light-filled embodiment of God. It is something so humble that we tread on it and barely acknowledge it's existence, and yet it is the key to all life. It pulses with unseen life. Your use of soil in this post is very moving and beautifully written. Thank you.
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