"We cannot see light except in what it touches....until it hits a simple blade of grass or makes the web of a spider a golden patch of lace."--Mark Nepo
I love to walk in our woods when the sun is filtering through the leafy upper story of the trees....
Nepo continues... "In the same way, the presence of God powerfully moves between us unseen, only visible in the brief moments we are lighted, in those enlivened moments we know as love."
I've never stopped to think about the fact that you don't actually see light, but rather only what it touches. It's like the wind. You don't see the wind either, only what it moves, how it feels on your skin, or the fragrance it sends your way. We use the word "love" to express how we feel about things like "I love to walk in the woods," and because of that we sometimes confuse it with God's kind of love. He would love walking in the woods even if the sun wasn't filtering through the leaves. He'd just love the woods...period. He'd love the woods in the state it was in before we had the tree people come in and clean it up, just like he loves us before we are cleaned up. We also forget that His love is an action verb and not just a descriptive verb.
I like how Nepo speaks of God moving unseen between us and how He becomes visible in those moments that we love one another. It's the difference between saying you love someone and being in love with them--and I'm not talking about "being in love with love". The latter has nothing to do with truly loving someone because it quickly fades after we've become more familiar with that person.
When you "love" another person you care about what's best for them and will act accordingly. When you're "in love" with that person, they take on an importance in your life that enables you to weather together the ups and downs life brings because there's an interdependence implied. That's why I think God wants us not only to love Him, but to be in love with Him. He is always doing for us--that is His kind of love, but as His creation He is also in love with us and desires a relationship with us that invites us to also be in love with Him. We show our love for Him by obeying Him (John 14:15). But to be in love with Him means to trust Him.
Father, Your light shines on all, but we do not always have the eyes of our heart open to see it. Help me to trust You--to open my heart. Thank you for loving me even when I fail to love in the way You love me.
Link to scripture: Psalm 52:8
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