Posts Tagged: thinking analogically about God
“GOD’S EVER-LOVING PRESENCE”
“Before you begin, pause for a moment. Take several slow, deep breaths and allow yourself to grow still. Be aware of God’s loving presence within you.” (“3-Minute Retreat,” for July 18, 2018, published by Loyola Press)
The quote that begins this post is a fairly common type of intro for these 3-Minute retreats—which I heartily recommend. They are good, quick, and free.
But the fact is that none of us hears anything until our heart and mind are prepared to hear them. For some reason, the phrase “God’s loving presence” caught my attention today.
Here is the problem, at least, as I see it: I have often believed (often only at a theoretical level) that God is present as the all-powerful, all-knowing Judge. But as a loving presence—not so much!
What difference does it make to me if I think of God as an ever-present loving presence?
I can’t get my mind around God, but I can think analogically. And the best analogy at this point is my relationship with my wife. I am, generally, a better man when my wife is around, period. I know that she loves me and that I love her. I am much less likely to say something stupid and mean-spirited when she is around. I am much less likely to fly into road rage. I am much less likely to notice (for too long) other lovely ladies. (And they are all lovely, aren’t they?)
Now, in the deepest possible sense, my wife is always with me. We are so in love that we have, quite profoundly, become one. So, in reality, I need to always watch my mouth, my anger, my eyes, since my wife is ever in my heart and on my mind.
But if God is The Loving Presence in my life, I need always to recognize that every situation, every decision, every interaction with others, is surrounded and filled and supercharged with the love of God.
How would that change every situation, every decision, every interaction? How wouldn’t it?!
Dear readers, I hope you go through this day with a profound and abiding sense of God’s loving presence! I hope that I do as well!
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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