Participation 2: Purpose
Question:
How can you uniquely reflect the love of God today?
Write your Answer – click here
Transcript of Video:
We’re talking about a dynamic which the prologue to John’s gospel kind of gets for us because, you know, son isn’t used right away it’s word. It’s this spoken word. It’s word is action. Word is love. God speaks creation into being. God breathes then, you know, there’s the spirit is how humankind and the whole creation are enlivened.
So it’s this kind of dynamic of a relationship that we’re speaking about that has chosen to take on the wholeness of humanity. Jesus has a soul. God has a soul. Jesus has a human heart. God has a heart. All of these things taken on are signifying truths about how we really reflect the image of God and not only what our origin is but also what our real destiny is, you know, that we’re actually being incorporated into this circle of love. What we call the incarnation is something that is taking place in all of us continuously in the whole human race. We’re being filled with the life of God each of us but always reflecting it in a way that only we can do.
– Br. Jonathan Maury
I can reflect God’s love today in my dealings with my fellow man. I can do my best to respond to all in the most loving way I can
By being open to the Spirit of His Great Love.
I can reflect the love of God by being more patient with those I encounter today. I can show more compassion and understanding for their weakness. I can forgive them for the wrongs done to me as God forgives me for the wrongs I do to others and to Him.
On TuesdayI had the opportunity to see in person someone I had expressed anger to on Sunday. I called this friend Sunday afternoon to apologize. I knew I would see her on Tuesday and I wanted to have the eye contact and in person connection to affirm my apology to her. She was so gracious and came over to me, apologizing to me for whatever her part was that might have caused or contributed to my anger. She gave me a card and a gift. It blew my mind.
I can be my deepest me, because my deepest me is the me that God made.
By reflecting God’s love, light and compassion to all I come in contact. By looking for God in small acts of kindness and extending grace to all, even those I don’t agree with.
I met with someone today about a process we hope will change things for the better for a lot of people. It will require some changing of a tradition that has been in place for a long time. This is very intimidating territory for me, but it is worth doing, and necessary to do, because of God’s love. I’m praying for guidance and courage, and that those whom this effort may challenge might be open to considering the concepts.
by being authentically the person I am-but not only who i am presently but who i feel i am called to become as i struggle to be present to the other.
I have been spending the day more quietly than usual. My son and I went for a walk while it was both sunny and rainy and I did not fret when there was not enough moisture in the air to make a rainbow. I felt God loving me and my son. Nothing deeply theological or psychological, just a simplicity of walking and having my son beside me and being out of doors. That is how God has been loving me.
By remembering the humanity I share with everyone I meet. I also need to more fully embrace that truth that acceptance begins at home – to the extent that I can accept and love myself, I can then accept and love others.
I hear this little whisper – by being sunshine. Isn’t that how God is described in the Psalms as Sun. Reminds me of a song I heard recently ” that’s how the lost get found”. Lovely to see you Beth 🙂
I will make a special effort to be patient and supportive to others today. As we celerate the Annunciation today ,I will endeavor to take Br. Jonathan’s words about all of us striving to be an incarnation of God seriously.
I will reflect the love of God today in how I respond to others, especially my wife. I will also take time to look at the beauty that surrounds me and reflect on the idea that everything around me – trees, flowers, yard, is a reflection of God and has God in it.
uniquely? me? perhaps by listening closely in every opportunity to provide support and assistance – as much to what the individuals involved need as to what the situation requires. perhaps to suspend my incessant judgment of everything – for a minute or more – and let everything in. There are certainly opportunities I am missing. Lord help me.
“Listening” to your response, the image of an enormous, round, crystal prism floats across my mind. Bathed in light
from outside, the prism also radiates light from deep within itself. I see each surface of the prism as the soul of a human being; each unique person on earth glowing with their own particular radiance while spinning slowly through heavenly light. “God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God” sings the prism.
I have no idea why this image comes so swiftly and clearly to me. Perhaps to remove the “who me?” from human judgment and reconnect our brilliant uniqueness to God.
you have blessed me. I am humbled and grateful.
In the gospel of John I have been emotionally and visually struck by the insistence that Jesus and the Father are One.
The Christian community of 60-90AD working out their theological response to Jesus has given me/us a startling and powerful image of connection to and in the Holy. Over and over Jesus insists, “I and the Father are One” adding variations to this theme; (“) No one comes to me except through the Father…I do my Father’s will…my Father is witness to me…I can do nothing except through my Father..(“) These images have begun to inhabit my heart from which I think the glowing, light-filled prism emerged, a “moving” icon of the Holy.
I hope we can all reconnect our brilliant uniqueness to God.
Listen, carefully, to what is being said.
Look, carefully, for the acts of love around me.
A wonderful series, with each segment so simple yet so thought-provoking. I have found the responses particularly thoughtful and also often inspiring themselves.
Speaking as a “political” observer the tone of the above, both commentary and response is by contrast so wonderfully wholesome and non-confrontational (not to mention being completely free of sarcasm, insult and foul language!), it gives m,e great delight to have found The Brothers’ web site.
well written. an oasis of sanity!
Let’s step out the for and see where the spirit takes us. Breath, see, hear…energies moving into the world space…openness to others.
I can try to think about the day in a different way – not where I went wrong or what I did right, but where did I see God at work in the world. This would make me less judgmental of myself and of others. I will likely smile more and feel joyful and perhaps reflect that joy outwards towards other people!
Such a powerful reflection. So grateful for this series right now. Reflecting God’s love, God’s word, in a way that only we can do… is something I can do more and more in my writing, and in my daily, mundane interactions with people. I find more opportunities for grace in the grocery store line and in heavy traffic these days than almost anywhere else. Keep on trying to be the unexpected kindness, the unlooked for smile, the anonymous helping hand.
Today I will do my best to reflect God’s love in all my actions and interactions with those I meet and talk with, family, friends, strangers.
Reflecting on this I am reminded of a sermon preached by our Bishop in which he talked not of the image of God but image with God. That we are not just mirrors but the actual embodiment of God’s love and what we do with that. How appropriate for the Feast of the Annunciation. So today I will try to be proactive in my relations with people and not just a mirror reflecting back, but a real living, breathing voice for justice, truth, and reconciliation.
In Jesus’s encounters with others, he really saw and heard them. I’m often so busy with my own plans and agendas that I’m not really present for and with others. I can give others my undivided attention today.
I can reflect God’s love by taking time to engage with family, friends, and others I meet today. Instead of hurrying with my own agenda, I can stop and look for God’s reflection in them.
By finding and being that person God meant me to be. And who is that? I get glimmers now and then, but trust when these feet and hands and eyes and mouth lead me astray, God will surely set me back on that path to home once again or at least whisper a hint in my ear as to direction.
On this the last day of our House of Bishops’ meeting at Camp Allen in Houston, I can be attentive to and supportive of my colleagues whose ministry is extremely challenging in today’s world and church.
Safe travel home, all you dear bishops. Whatever would we do without y’all.
Thank you Jonathan for your words: Word is love. God speaks creation into being. I too will remember throughout the day the power of a kind word to reflect love. I am grateful for the image of speaking light and life and love into being.
Today as a Chaplain I can be an extension of God’s love to the patients I visit, letting them know that God really does love them.
I can try to reflect God’s love by being patient with my own foibles and the foibles of others.
I can reflect the love of God through my love and compassion for my neighbors, both far and near.
Today, we honor the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. If I can remember throughout the day that I, too, am a servant of the Lord, the Spirit will come and help me reflect uniquely God’s love. How? I await in awe for the opportunity and the mystery as the day unfolds.