Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7 Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
If your Christmas tree is not yet down, today is the day. Because today the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, is officially the end of the Christmas season in the liturgical year of the church.
In today's gospel from Luke we hear what Jesus heard after his baptism, "You are my beloved Son. “ This moves Jesus to the desert, to spend forty days alone with God, loving and being loved. Fueled by this great love he comes out of the desert to begin his public ministry. The rest is history.
How would your life be changed, how would you be transformed, if each morning you awakened convinced that you, too, were God’s beloved? If you absolutely believed that you were unable to lose God's love? That no matter what you did that day God would still love you? That you did not turn God's love for you on and it is not possible for you to turn it off!
Try a prayer experience. Imagine yourself waking up in your bed. Imagine your room, your bed, your jammies. Make it as real as possible for you to see yourself at break of day. Then imagine feeling overwhelmed by a sense of well-being, the conviction that you are completely loved by God just as you are.
When you walk into the bathroom to brush your teeth and you see yourself in the mirror, I bet you smile. As you dress for the day, it's quite possible you hum a little tune. If there are other people in your house, the odds are you greet them with a smile. That's the thing about love… You want to pass it on!
And so goes your day. Even if there are aches and pains. Even if there are problems to be solved. Even if others do not treat you as kindly as you deserve. First and foremost, you never lose the conviction of being loved by God.
If you and I do not begin each day that way, do not live each day that way, it is not because God has stopped loving. God always loves. It is we who are not always open, aware of the love being poured upon us.
May our New Year's resolutions take a new form this year. Instead of a commitment to whipping ourselves into shape, let us simply become more aware of what already is: That we are unconditionally loved by God just as we are. And allow ourselves to be transformed the way love always does.
by: Pat Schnee
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