Thursday December 23 Love Psalm 36:5-9
Your
steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the
clouds.
Your
righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great
deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
How
precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the
shadow of your wings.
They
feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of
your delights.
For
with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
****
“Do you still love me?” I suspect
most of us have, at one time or another, said this to or heard it from a
friend, partner, spouse. Maybe the car got dented, or we forgot to do
something. Maybe it was something more serious, like breaking a promise. Or something
even more severe that broke the trust that had been shared or betrayed the love
that is now in question. Being on either side of that inquiry places demands on
the participant. If I am the asker, I need to reflect on what I’ve done, how
sincere I am in my regret, how committed I am to reforming my ways. If I am the
asked, how do I judge the hurt that has been done, how much risk am I willing
to take in the future, is there enough left of the love I had to grow again and
survive. Sadly in our human relationships,
sometimes the answer is “no” and both people are left wounded and lessened.
If we live our lives knowing we
are in God’s presence, we also have times when we recognize our failings and
turn to God and ask “do you still love me?” It is an incredible gift to us that
God’s answer is always a resounding “yes!” God recognizes our weaknesses, the
easy attraction of our own ego over the things God would have us do, but God
doesn’t just wink and dismiss our sins lightly. God wants us to be repentant and
strive to live the way shown to us through Jesus. But God always begins with a
firm and steadfast “yes” of God’s love and reaches out to lift us and help us
return to the path of uprightness. God shines the light of Jesus into our
hearts to purify and strengthen us.
Prayer: God I humbly ask you to
forgive my sins. As unworthy as I am, you shower me with your love and support
me, looking in return only for my love to you and to others. Help me to keep
you foremost in my mind as I interact with others, and guide me to show them
your love and forgiveness through my actions. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen
Mary
Beth Commisso
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