Reflections
It is awesome to me how almost everything in this life is a reflection of God in some way. It is even more amazing when such a resemblance is not intended. Take love songs, for example: they are not meant to be anything other than what they are at face value - songs about human love. But, if one listens to them with the intellect, and not just the ears, we can easily see how it could be a retelling of God's love for us. How He loves us with a deep and passionate love; desires greatly to be united to us; is jealous when something else comes along and turns our affection away; is so ecstatic when we finally return His love. Such themes may not be so manifestly evident, but they are usually there if one seeks to listen with an intellect inclined toward the Divine.
What absolutely floors me, though, is experiencing God's love directly through the love of another person. This is one of the kind of things that many of us know, but don't fully comprehend or realize that we know it. Over these past four months since my husband and I have been married, I have had abundant time to reflect on life and I keep coming to realizations of truths I already knew, but have never really understood in a real way before. Such as the way God is reflected in the love that others show us. It became real for me a couple of weeks ago: There had been a misunderstanding and a disappointment (again); I reacted poorly and unfeelingly; there was a terrible black cloud made of my own pride floating around the apartment all day; and at dinner, after I had finally subdued my passions, I asked forgiveness. And oh! How readily absolution was given! Forgiveness was not only given, but came with assurances of wholehearted faith and love for me, no matter what I do. Just like God! In my husband's expressions of forgiveness and love, I completely saw the reflection of the love God has for not only me, but every single person He ever created.
That was an awesome understanding for me. I knew intellectually that when we act and live in love according to the Word of God, we are reflections of God in the world, but I had never really seen it in such a real way until that night. God is reflected in everything in this world, from the almost imperceptible resemblance found in nature, to the more potent and real images of Him to be found in our human relationships. Perhaps something to reflect on regarding our daily interactions with others.
What absolutely floors me, though, is experiencing God's love directly through the love of another person. This is one of the kind of things that many of us know, but don't fully comprehend or realize that we know it. Over these past four months since my husband and I have been married, I have had abundant time to reflect on life and I keep coming to realizations of truths I already knew, but have never really understood in a real way before. Such as the way God is reflected in the love that others show us. It became real for me a couple of weeks ago: There had been a misunderstanding and a disappointment (again); I reacted poorly and unfeelingly; there was a terrible black cloud made of my own pride floating around the apartment all day; and at dinner, after I had finally subdued my passions, I asked forgiveness. And oh! How readily absolution was given! Forgiveness was not only given, but came with assurances of wholehearted faith and love for me, no matter what I do. Just like God! In my husband's expressions of forgiveness and love, I completely saw the reflection of the love God has for not only me, but every single person He ever created.
That was an awesome understanding for me. I knew intellectually that when we act and live in love according to the Word of God, we are reflections of God in the world, but I had never really seen it in such a real way until that night. God is reflected in everything in this world, from the almost imperceptible resemblance found in nature, to the more potent and real images of Him to be found in our human relationships. Perhaps something to reflect on regarding our daily interactions with others.
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