Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
See, the home of God is among mortals. God will dwell with them; they will be God’s peoples. The Holy One will personally be with them, and will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.
— Revelation 21.3-4
This is a mystery. For how can we love if we cannot suffer? Yet this seems clear: the sorrows of this world, the deep sadness that shapes so much of how we live, all our pain and regret is passing. God’s tender, comforting presence and God’s gentle healing are eternal. The sorrows we feel arise from loss, but in the Realm of the Beloved there is no loss; all things are one. Even death is not as powerful as love. What we love cannot be taken from us because we are one with them. Our deep presence in one another is eternal; everything else is passing away. The illusion of our separateness is strong, and it is this illusion that causes us grief. But in God’s love we realize our oneness, and each moment is a gift, without regret for what it might otherwise have been. There is always joy in the present moment.
We also weep for one anther. We mourn for those who suffer; we weep with them and suffer with them. And, weeping, we work for the day when their suffering is lifted, when the power of evil, injustice and oppression is finally overcome. So it is good to hold this vision before us, this promise of the day when God wipes every tear from our eyes. We ourselves will not do it. Ultimately it is the grace of God, the Love at the heart of all things, the blessedness of our oneness, that will. Meanwhile we accept the power God gives us to work for that day. We live in hope of that day— hope that is not mere wishful thinking, but confidence that that reality is already part of us, that this world’s suffering is passing away, but the tender mercy of God is present, and powerful, and infinite.
May this give you peace and strength and comfort, guide you on your way, and give you courage to live with mercy and love.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
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Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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