“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies. ” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
“But the man who is not afraid to admit everything that he sees to be wrong with himself, and yet recognizes that he may be the object of God’s love precisely because of his shortcomings, can begin to be sincere. His sincerity is based on confidence, not in his own illusions about himself, but in the endless, unfailing mercy of God.” ― Thomas Merton
As my reclamation continues and grows, I cannot help but notice how the thoughts and words I read and hear carry with them an entirely different meaning and mass. Perhaps it is an aspect of the long needed self honesty and an honest embrace of humility that brings with it this resonance. Whatever the case, each day, another epiphany reveals itself.
The daily offering from Pray.com is but one example. Each day this past week they shared something that applied directly where I was on the journey towards redemption. Filling my soul with the sustenance needed for better understanding.
“You may not see the full picture right now, but God is weaving beauty from the threads of your story. Your calling isn’t limited to your job title or circumstances—it’s about living with divine purpose right where you are. Whether you’re in a season of waiting or working, God’s call still stands.”
Patience born of a renewed faith brings with it the peace and serenity needed to hear the calling and pursue a divine purpose. Letting go fulfills His promise to us, in the form of saving grace.
A calling has no real limitations, especially given that in no way will we ever have His field of vision.
I will gladly accept his assignment, as temporary as it may turn out to be. But in doing so, I know that I will finally be where I am meant to be. Fulfilling His loving purpose.
It floors me that thoughts expressed and documented by the Apostle Paul about 57 AD behold a clarity and exude a resonance that remains powerful and compelling to this moment. More importantly, they are more synchronous than just belonging to the present. Belief in and adherence to these lessons first shared some two thousand years ago, and a commitment to conduct ourselves accordingly effectively works to make us their contemporaries.
In many ways, these words of wisdom can help both to direct and sustain a journey towards a genuinely spiritual reckoning and rebirth.
“A ‘spiritual reckoning’ is a moment of deep self-assessment and accountability, often prompted by a significant life event like suffering or a crisis, where an individual confronts the consequences of their actions, thoughts, and beliefs.” Once you experience this on a personal level, the world begins to change for you. Maybe not so much in a material sense, if at all. But definitely, your perspective will shift more so in a spiritual aspect.
The release from dishonesty and relegating ego to its proper stature brings with it the rare reality of calm and palpable presence. Moments become redefined. Things that were baffling and seemingly powerful dissipate, their grip on you lessens.
“It involves facing a deeper truth about oneself and one’s relationship with the divine or the spiritual realm, leading to a personal awakening, a change in perspective, and an understanding of one’s responsibilities and purpose.” An awakening to the presence of grace and a deeper relationship with Him leads one to what life is really meant to be. A calling for discernment about true responsibilities and how this leads one to an understanding and embrace of purpose.
Words can become so abstract and difficult to navigate. Prone to the fetish, fantasy or fixation of the minute, the meaning of their intended construction can become obscured by ego, judgement or the current trend. But upon one’s approach to the peace that comes with a desire for repentance, metanoia as it was meant to be, their truth holds firm and their context remains as fully as it was intended.
Belief in and adherence to these lessons first shared some two thousand years ago, and a commitment to conduct ourselves accordingly effectively leads one to undertake metanoia and lean into a genuine spiritual reckoning.
A deep self-assessment and a newborn sense of accountability.
In the midst of ongoing transformation and renewal, things can take on an entirely new mass and meaning. Prior perspectives, familiar moments, simple words can appear altogether awe inspiring. An overwhelming sense of serenity, peace and comfort. A knowing.
Grace is one such word that is utterly attuned to this state of being. Something that has been lost in translation for reasons now that just escape me. When put as such, by Thomas Merton, it now resonates to and through one’s soul:
“Grace is not a strange, magic substance which is subtly filtered into our souls to act as a kind of spiritual penicillin. Grace is unity, oneness within ourselves, oneness with God.”
A state of being with a genuine openness to be who we are in the presence of God. A true collaboration of a life together. Not as some external additive, but an honest recognition of what has always been there internally. Only needing to be opened and honored through our will to accept that level of presence and love.
...my temporary assignment. 