God loves us.
God loves me.
God loves you.
love
vt: to thrive in (the rose ~s sunlight)1
What if this is a way God loves us? What if God thrives in us as a rose thrives in sunlight?
God, a flower, planted in soil. Rooted in the earth, taking its nourishment from its grounding. Stretching toward us, the sunlight, which provides raw material for God to create energy and power. We are part of the environment which enriches God’s growth in the world.
Playing with this idea reminds me of when I first started reading the poetry of Ranier Maria Rilke. He takes seriously the idea of God as personal and one who loves us. Where that leads is sometimes unexpected.
In one poem, God instructs us, the created ones:
Flare up like flame
and make big shadows I can move in. 2
God could fit into a shadow I could make? God would want to dance in the effects of my thriving?
In another poem, Rilke wonders how our death would affect God:
What will you do, God, when I die?
…
Your gaze, which I welcome now
as it warms my cheek,
will search for me hour after hour
and lie at sunset, spent,
on an empty beach
among unfamiliar stones. 3
God might be at a loss when I die. God might search for me, needing to fill the space my absence creates. The love of God is such that my presence or absence on this earth affects God deeply.
Playing with these ideas of God helps me discover ways in which I am loved and cherished by God that I don’t come to otherwise. God loves me. God loves you. God loves us – we are necessary for God’s thriving. God loves us – God delights in our thriving. God loves us – our very existence gives God pleasure and is grounding to God.
May you discover anew how God loves you. May you be nourished in the experience of God loving you, this day and every day.
Rachael
1 “Love,” def. 4. Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G.C. Merriam Company, 1972.
2 Rilke, Ranier Maria. “Gott spricht zu jedem nur, eh er ihn macht.” The Book of Hours. Translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy. Riverhead Books, 1996, p. 88.
3 Rilke, Ranier Maria. “Was wirst du tun, Gott, wenn ich sterbe?” The Book of Hours. Translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy. Riverhead Books, 1996, p. 74.