beloved

i read henri nouwen's "life of the beloved" again recently. i could say a lot on this, but for now i just want to highlight two passages.

the foundation for nouwen's premise is found in matthew 3:16-17, mark 1:10-11 and luke 3:21-22: "you are my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on you." i absolutely love to think about the fact that i am God's beloved. it's similar to contemplating the fact that i'm created in God's image. i think i big part of that "image" is the desire to be in communion with each other, as i've mentioned before. i think God desires that we communicate with Him and each other in love. God communicates to me that i'm His beloved. at any point in time that i doubt myself, this is one unshakeable truth.

part of realizing one's own belovedness translates into a desire to share that with other people. nouwen writes to his friend, "the greatest gift my friendship can give to you is the gift of your Belovedness. i can give that gift only insofar as i have claimed it for myself." this rings so true for me. when i think about the people i love, of all the things i want to communicate to those people, their own belovedness is supreme. i'm often known to say, "i just want to love on people," or, "i just want to make people feel special..." i realize i risk sounding like the ultimate cheese ball, but it's so exciting to claim God's love for myself... how could i not share it with others? especially with those i love?

communion is cool

every once in a while, i get to assist with communion. i think this is one of the coolest things i can do at church. it's such an active and tangible way of blessing people, many whom i don't even know. last night was one of those nights, and it was especially cool because people were wearing name tags so i could say, "this is the blood of Christ shed for you, cathy." so personal. here is some of the liturgy used in communion...

"in the night in which He was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread and gave thanks; broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying: take and eat; this is my body, given for you. do this for the remembrance of Me. again, after supper, He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: this cup is the new covenant in My blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. do this for the remembrance of Me. as we recall the one, perfect sacrifice for our redemption, Father, by your Holy Spirit, lead us to accept these gifts of your creation, that we as the body of Christ, may be united in love and charity."

and then, all these people with different lives and who knows what going on in their heads and hearts come forward to receive communion. to take the bread and drink the wine, to hear the words, "this is the body of Christ, broken for you... the blood of Christ, shed for you." it really is a unifying moment. not just in that small chapel, but everywhere people remember Christ in this way. the communion we take reminds us not only of our communion with one another, but most importantly our communion with God.

after receiving the communion, the pastor blesses the people saying, "the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in His grace. amen." for me, this is a very real reminder that God is in me and God's light shines through me. so, yeah. i think communion is cool.