Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monkey and dogs,
Welcoming you to Towards the Light,
An Advent Journey.
And today,
Day five,
We want to talk about knowing God's heart.
Have you ever thought about what it means to know the heart of God?
It's actually a question that draws us into the mystery of Advent,
This season when God's love takes on flesh,
Steps into our world and invites us into deeper relationship.
To know God's heart is to feel the pulse of divine love,
A love that never wavers,
Never gives up,
Never turns away.
It's a love that chooses to be born in the smallest,
Most vulnerable way,
As a baby in a manger and revealed first to some shepherds out in a field somewhere.
John Lamott once wrote,
And I quote,
Hope begins in the dark,
The stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing,
The dawn will come.
Isn't that so like God?
Hope that shows up not in grand gestures,
But in the quiet persistence of love,
A love that meets us in our broken places,
A love that refuses to let go.
Psalm 103 paints a vivid picture of this love.
In that psalm,
The psalmist speaks of this love being compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast mercy.
And in Micah 6,
8,
We're reminded of what God desires of us in return for that love that God gives us.
From verse 6,
Micah writes the following,
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted?
Shall I come before God with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
With 10,
000 rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
God has shown you,
O mortal,
What is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God.
Did you get that?
All God requires of us is to act justly,
Love mercy,
And walk humbly.
And this,
This is the rhythm of God's heart.
A beat that we are invited to echo in our own lives.
Take a moment to reflect.
Where do you see God's heart at work in your life?
In the kindness of a stranger?
In the beauty of creation?
Maybe it's in the small unexpected moments that catch you off guard.
And how might you align your heart with God's heart today?
So friend,
May you feel the steadfast love of God reaching for you in every moment.
May you see God's heart in the ordinary and let it awaken you in wonder.
May you walk humbly,
Act justly,
Love mercy,
Reflecting God's heartbeat in your world.
May you know that even in the dark,
Hope is being born quietly,
Persistently,
And beautifully.
As you go from here today,
I wonder,
What does God's steadfast love stir in you?
Perhaps today,
Let the words of Micah 6,
8 and Psalm 103,
8 to 12 guide your thoughts and prayers about this.
And so,
As we end day five's reflection,
Until tomorrow,
Peace be with you,
Friend.
Bye for now.
