John 8:12-20: Missing God
Monday, March 13, 2023
Jesus once again addressed them: “I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.”
If this is so, then why do we miss God when God accompanies us in joy and sorrow?
The Pharisees objected, “All we have is your word on this. We need more than this to go on”.
If this is our thinking then we miss God’s presence just as many religious leaders did in Jesus’ day, and as many do today.
Jesus replied, “You’re right that you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true. I know where I’ve come from and where I go next. You don’t know where I’m from or where I’m headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don’t make judgments like that. But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn’t make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me”.
If this is so, then we will want to move out of our narrowness and into the largeness of the one who creates us. If this is so, then we will want to dwell with Jesus’ words for a time, and allow them to sink into the marrow of our bones. If this is so, then we have much to forget and much to learn. If this is so, we want to offload all that constrains us and encourages us to judge; and we will want to open our hearts and minds and very selves to welcome this big and generous God.
Today we continue this week’s Lenten practice as we open ourselves to the enormity of God’s light and promise. Rather than thinking: “I will set all things right in God’s kingdom,” let us think instead, “I will strive each day to follow Jesus’ example of forgiveness, mercy and love”.
Tomorrow, dead end.
HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD? Watch this short video by Fr. Paul Coutinho, S.J., and smile with the images he creates in this brief video, and reflect on how we might be missing God’s generosity and enormity each day. We may also find refreshment with his delightful book HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD: THE FREEDOM TO EXPERIENCE THE DIVINE.
When we use the scripture link to spend time with various versions of these verses, God becomes big enough to hold the multiverse.
Image from: https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/silhouette-of-missing-puzzle-piece
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