I am called to repent of unbelief if I do not believe the truth that the Father is singing in joy because of me! - Fr. John Horn, S.J, in the second Foreword to Abba's Heart
This sentence follows closely over the quotation of Zp 3:14-18, with an encouragement to read and understand this passage in the first person. And I find myself aware of a truth in a new way.
I have long known that God rejoices over me when I do what He knows is best for me, and that God loves me even when I don't. But this foreword and this book are leading me to realize that even the sadness which God may feel on my behalf - or even anger, again for my sake and also for others' - does not diminish the joy He takes in who I am, even when I choose poorly. Somehow, that knowledge is part of the five keys of spiritual freedom that help me remain unbound from bondage to poor choices. There is liberating power in knowing who I am in the context of who God - my Father - is.
I have an experience of something like this that I've never had before, in watching my grown daughters. They are a marvel, even when I disagree with their choices.
There is absolutely no way I can express this. But I expect this is but the first toe-in-the-water touch of this book drawing me more deeply into my Papa's heart.
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