Loved Right Now

 

You are loved just as you are, not as you should be.  Because you are never going to be as you should be.  Brennan Manning.

 

What is your initial response to the above quote?  Did the defense attorney who lives in your brain holler, “Objection!”?  Did your soul stand on tiptoes, wishing, wanting this to be true?  What would it mean to live from this place rather than the messages of scarcity and sarcasm and cynical criticism that too often author our lives?  What if those who bully and belittle others have so missed the point and don’t get to live rent-free in our minds?  What if we stop letting CNN, MSNBC, and Fox blare in the background of our lives?  What if being informed has nothing to do with a random smattering of headlines you glance over in the morning?  

 

We are taught and have caught a way of life.  You were formed and fashioned first by God, then reformed by voices of parents, teachers, media, church, experiences, and encounters ~ some of which you sought out and others arrived unwelcome at your doorstep like a traveling salesman who wouldn’t leave until you bought the steak knives they were pedaling.  Every day, Madison Ave knocks on your consciousness, telling you that you must have this item, now… because supplies are running low.  Every day, politicians tell you that if this legislation passes, the four horsemen will arrive with the apocalypse. Every day, the church tells you to “be good” because God is a cosmic Santa Claus ~ watching, always watching.  Every day, the media personalities spin all that has happened, sprinkling with fear and telling you to “stay tuned” because they will be back after a few short messages from the sponsors.  No wonder you are exhausted.  No wonder you are on cognitive, emotional, spiritual, and physical overload.  No wonder you just want to stay in bed and watch dog videos on YouTube.

 

So what if today the voice you seek out is that of God?  You may want to go down to the river to pray, wade in the water, and remember your baptism.  I am not promising a dove will descend with a James Earl Jones voice saying, “This is my beloved”!!  I am only saying that you are loved, not for who you could be, should be, might be, but who you are in this moment.  May this truth interrupt and disrupt all the other voices claiming and clamoring for your attention today.  Amen.