to which the soul, like the sunflower,
has to be always turned (James Alberione).
'Oh, I didn't love her because it was right. I just loved her.'
These lines from the film version of The Horse Whisperer seem to say much about our relationship with God, with others and with ourselves. They seem Godly.
We are often confronted with the question why God continually loves people who continually think less of that love. It seems not right. God could have just loved those who love in return and it will be perfect. God could have just left the lost sheep in that state and it would be just. The sheep has chosen to separate from the fold anyway. But God is not like that. As an author puts it: 'God loves each of us not because we are good or bad. God loves us first of all because we are God's child.' Yes, God, the Master Lover, just loves us! And he will fight for His love for us first of all from Himself and the desire that such love be selfish on His part... more than we'll ever know.
The Sacred Scriptures as God's Love Letter
The truth is that God loves us from the beginning and it is his desire to reveal himself to us. Did he not send his only begotten son Jesus Christ as his greatest gift to humankind in order to manifest his love? In other words, God's presence is already within us. "My word is very near you; it is already in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can put it into practice." (Deut. 30:14)
God wants to be made known and wants to become our ever-present companion on the journey. We are not left alone to face the challenging task of discerning God's ways in the world. And more than anywhere else, God reveals himself in his creation and in the Sacred Scriptures. The Scriptures is where God speaks his words and offers his gift of love. The Sacred Scriptures is God's love letter to every human person. The Scriptures is where we can encounter our God and know Him better (a trysting place, rendezvous, isang pook tagpuan). And here, we can say that discernment is recognizing and giving attention to God's loving presence in our life as revealed in the Holy Bible.
The Word of God in Creation
God as the creator and provider of the universe has done everything simply by uttering a word. Even in creation, he seems to be always calling out. He calls things to him. He calls creatures into existence: there is no light, God calls, and the light becomes present; there is nothing in the waters, on the earth and in the skies; God calls, and living creatures fill the emptiness. God creates by calling, and he sees that everything is good.
Thus from the outset of scripture we have the tremendous, commanding (literally), creating, effective voice of God: Let there be ... Let there be ... And it came to pass. When it was time to create the human person, the story is a little different in form, yet still the same. He breathes life into the clay of the earth as if it were some kind of powerful command, a call to life, to participation in his own life.
The story of humankind begins in blessing but continues in Genesis 3 where it tells that the Creator God walks leisurely in the garden at the time of evening breeze. Even though our first parents had already disobeyed God's command not to eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God still seeks them out. God's voice echoes through the garden, 'Where are you?' (Gen 3:9) -- a call for relationship.
Indeed spiritual discernment is rooted in our loving relationship with God described in Genesis 1, 27-28:
So God created humankind in his image,
In the image of God he created them,
Male and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them,
"Be fruitful and multiply...."
Even if we have fallen and turned away from him, he never stops loving us and he continues to bless us. He patiently waits for our return. And in our return, he does not judge. He only opens his arms to welcome us back in his loving and comforting embrace. To be grounded in such love and blessing means to be at home with God, to be secure in the Father's presence, and at peace with his desire for us. Because God's love is perfect and unending, we can confidently trust in God's guidance and enter the journey of discernment with peaceful hearts.
The Will of God in the Scriptures
God reveals his will in the Scriptures. Psalm 78 and 106 reflect the two kinds of will in a tug-of-war: the divine will and plan, and then the human will struggling to win its own plan. Here, the weaknesses, and wrongful human tendencies are finding ways to dominate and enslave the person, thus, losing the way back to the Heavenly Father: paradise and perfect happiness which every human being desires.
Vocation and response then are a single thread that runs through the whole of Scripture. Vocation and response of the people of
If Sacred Scripture is God's word, and vocation is God's personal call to us, then there is much in Sacred Scriptures and in Creation that will help us notice and give attention to God's love for us and help perceive his will and answer our own call. In calling us, and in our failure to respond, God still persists. And as we learn to listen more faithfully to the Spirit who reveals truth, we are confirmed in our steps and movements, and are empowered to fulfill our call.
