Wednesday, December 13th:
Catching the vision of God should bring peace to your mind, heart and soul. I was called last Wednesday night after church, after I had changed into retiring attire, snuggled under a comforter on a dark, cold and rainy night, to rush up to the local hospital for an emergency chaplain need with a person in “mental and emotional melt-down.” As I reflected later about the good visit I had with this precious child of God in need, “one cannot offer comfort to another, peace to another, unless one has been under the comfort and peace of God first and foremost for him or herself.” Are you finding comfort and peace from the love of God made known in Jesus, offered to you through the indwelling and inspiration of the Holy Spirit?
The marvelous vision of the peaceable Kingdom, in which all violence has been overcome and all men, women, and children live in loving unity with nature, calls for its realisation in our day-to-day lives. Instead of being an escapist dream, it challenges us to anticipate what it promises. Every time we forgive our neighbor, every time we make a child smile, every time we show compassion to a suffering person, every time we arrange a bouquet of flowers, offer care to tame or wild animals, prevent pollution, create beauty in our homes and gardens, and work for peace and justice among peoples and nations we are making the vision come true.
We must remind one another constantly of the vision. Whenever it comes alive in us we will find new energy to live it out, right where we are. Instead of making us escape real life, this beautiful vision gets us involved.
Henri Nouwen
For further reflection…
“Keep yourself in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” – Jude 21 (NIV)