A Christmas Meditation See how she loves him.
When
I was living in Copan Ruinas, I met a retired Canadian in his
seventies, who was travelling throughout Central America to avoid
the northern winters. We used to sit at the coffee shop overlooking
the central square watching the people. What especially moved him were
the mothers with their children. "Look at that little boy!" he would
say. "See how he holds his mother's hand. See how she loves him."
It was simple observation, yet very true and beautiful. See how she loves him.
It
is the image of Mary and the baby Jesus as well. Mary holds Jesus
tightly in her arms, full of love for her new born child. See how she
loves him.
And
as we are created in God's image, it also reflects God's love for us.
The special love that only a mother can give. See how she loves him.
See how God loves us.
I was given a book, Good Goats by
Dennis, Sheila and Matthew Linn (1). It was written for people, who
struggle believing that God really loves them. It is for people, who
feel that they are never good enough and God is always judgemental and
demanding.
Dennis
Linn tells the story of his friend Hilda, who came to him for
counselling about her son. He had just tried to commit suicide, after
being involved in crime, drugs and prostitution.
Dennis
asked her, as they sat together, to imagine that her son had
died. The scene was the judgement throne of God. Hilda was there,
too, as her son came in.
"How does your son feel?" Dennis asked.
"He feels so lonely and empty," Hilda replied.
"And what do you want to do?"
"I want to throw my arms around my son." She began to cry, as she imagined herself holding her son tightly.
When
she finished crying, Dennis asked her, "What does God want to do?"
And God stepped down from the throne, just as Hilda did. He embraced
her son. All three of them cried together.
After that
session, Dennis wrote: "I was stunned. What Hilda taught me in those
few minutes is the bottom line of healthy Christian spirituality. God
loves us at least as much as the person who loves us the most."
See how she loves him.
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(1) Linn Dennis, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Matthew Linn
Good Goats: Healing our Image of God, Paulist Press
Mahwah New Jersey, 1993
The authors are therapists and retreat leaders. Matthew Linn
is also a Jesuit. Together they are authors of twelve books
on healing.
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