Late Fragment (by Raymond Carver)
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
The desire of our hearts? Love. I’ve heard it said that the whole spiritual journey is a journey from fear to love. The unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love back into our hearts. To know, hear and accept the truth that we are beloved is a gift. So many still wonder if they are beloved because they don’t remember the significant others in their lives saying this to them in words or actions. How we long for it throughout our lives.
And don’t we also long to hear God whisper this to us as well. Or at least imagine this to be so? That we are God’s beloved. Are we? Could that be true? What would it mean and how would we live if we knew we were loved by God and set out to experience it more deeply?
It happens early in Jesus ministry, in fact it’s the beginning of his ministry. He goes to see his cousin John out in the wilderness by the river to get baptized. Jesus goes into the water, John dunks him, and Jesus comes up out of the water and hears a voice. Do you remember what the voice says to him? I think it’s significant because I don’t think it’s said exclusively for Jesus but for all the sons and daughters of God as well, which we all are. And to hear these words and know it’s true can touch our hearts and maybe even change our life.
“You are My beloved Son; withYou I am well pleased.”
MARK 1:11
So today, for this moment can you also imagine hearing these words and letting them soak in. You also are God’s beloved SON or DAUGHTER in whom God is well pleased. You are beloved.
Simple Sunday Sermon Link – Hearing the Voice of Love
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