IT took me awhile to come to the realisation of how simple my life really is now, and to accept that the simple life I lead is just as it was when I was a child.
For, as I did then, so it is now – I live in the now – the present is all there is.
In being in the now, I am – and, isn’t that the name of God? I am.
Could it be that I am a slow learner?
No. Faith is caught.
My heart needed to be transformed.
I had to learn, again, how to know myself, to be myself – my true self.
That took some painful work, a stripping away of the false self, the old self.
What a joy it was to find that the gift and graces of my early childhood are the clearest and closest expression of God’s incarnate nature – that my true self was already there; it was buried beneath the superficial, unnecessary “garbage” I allowed into my life.
Jesuit theologian Fr Karl Rahner wrote, “We do not move away from childhood in any real sense. We move towards the eternity of this childhood, to its definitive and enduring validity in God’ sight…”
The paradox is we grow into the fullness of the childhood we once lived. Jesus taught, “In truth I tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven” [Matthew 18:3].
Jesus thus invites us to return to the authentic vulnerable openness we enjoyed as children, to allow wonder back in. It is in our openness that we most resemble God.
Another realisation grew.
My relationship with God is also simple. And, isn’t that the way God wants it to be?
Theologian and mystic, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, said, “God requires that we should love him eternally with our whole hearts.”
It is that simple. Why do we over think it?
“We love because God first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
We are extravagantly and unconditionally loved by a most beautiful God. God does not hold our sins against us. God has already forgiven and forgotten them.
We are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb – our sins have been washed away by the blood Jesus shed on the Cross.
Through Jesus blood we are delivered from darkness. We have been set free.
Divine love and forgiveness are always without conditions.
They are simply given, no strings attached. That is why it is called grace.
If God can forget my sins, I can too.
I can forget my sins and concentrate on who I am. God has called me by name to follow his will in the ordinariness, the simplicity of my daily life.
“God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him” (1 John 4:16).
God is Love, and God is in us. Love is the overflow of goodness and is diffusive of itself, says St Thomas Aquinas.
God’s love flows into us and flows from us, outwards to others. Jesus asks that we love one another as he loves us.
We know that God lives within us. “God is love. As he is, so are we…”
God is love and as God is so are you. You are love.
The love you crave is already in your heart; the love you know you should have for others is also already there.
You are love and you can radiate that love to others.
You can see God’s face in every face.
Because I am love, I can choose to show love. Acknowledge the great love God has for you by sharing it with each person whose path crosses yours.
Jesus teaches clearly that eternal life is not something that we as believers merely hope to enjoy in the future.
No, we who share in the Eucharist already possess eternal life. “Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:54).
“Has” is present tense – eternal life is the present actual possession of each of us who believe in Jesus.
Hold these words in your heart.
Love God.
Trust in God.
Surrender to God.
Be fully dependent on God.
Be love to others – see the face of God in others.
Know that God is always with you – God is in everything.
It really is as simple as that. No signs needed.
No need to overcomplicate things.
Only one question is required: How may I serve you today, Lord?
God stands in front of you, arms outstretched to hold you. Simply let God’s love fill you. Keep it simply simple.
Have a golden day and treasure life.
