Learning to live in the unforced rhythms of grace
Our world is fragmented:
creatures disconnected from creation,
nations torn by powerful interests,
families broken by arrogance and addiction,
children crushed by violence and abuse,
nature spoiled by thoughtless consumption.
In this contemplation, while receiving God’s love for ourselves, we cry out to God – Earth Maker, Pain Bearer, Life Giver – for all those who do not or cannot feel that love.
Click here to go to the contemplative companion to chapter 3 of Growing up to be a child
In a wonderful verse in Isaiah, the prophet uses the illustration of a nursing mother: ‘Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?’ Impossible as that may seem, Isaiah contrasts that with God’s steadfast love: ‘Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.’[1]
This image of God as a nursing mother is so, so powerful. It cuts through all our stereotypes of a vengeful, stern judge or an omnipotent, unapproachable creator. Instead we see a different side of God’s character – tender, passionate, caring, vulnerable. It invites us to come to God in such a different way. We come, not so much as miserable sinners cowering beneath ‘his’ judgement and in need of repentance and atonement, but as beloved children invited to nestle into ‘her’ bosom, to be cradled in her arms, to be enfolded in her love. A nursing mother does not place demands on her baby; she takes her up in her arms to love her and cherish her.
This is challenging; it challenges our preconceptions of who God is and what God is like. It also challenges our approach to the Holy One. Can we come to God as vulnerable, newborn babies, willing to put aside our pride and be accepted into her loving embrace? If we can, this move to become like a little child carries with it a wonderful promise of God’s tender, embracing, steadfast love for us.
Click here to go to the contemplative companion to Chapter 2 of Growing up to be a child.
[1] Isaiah 49:15,16.
In Growing up to be a child I have explored what Jesus might have meant when he invited each of us to become like a little child. This is a radical and challenging invitation, one that calls us to a whole new process of development, one in which our heart and soul, and perhaps ultimately our body and mind too, will become all that our Creator intended them to be.
If we are going to take this challenge seriously, it surely cannot mean just reading about it, thinking how good and inspiring Jesus’ teaching is. Jesus himself challenged us not just to hear his words, but also to put them into practice (Luke 6: 46-49).
But any authentic response to Jesus’ words has to stem from an encounter with the living God, the one who loves us as a child.
With that in mind, I am developing a contemplative companion to the book. Continue reading “Growing up to be a child: a contemplative companion”
A good Swiss friend of mine, André Burgunder, has kindly taken it upon himself to translate Growing up to be a child into German. Here is the foreword, with more to follow in due course. I hope my German-speaking friends will enjoy the book and find it inspiring reading it in their own language.
Vorwort
Im August 2011 wurde meine Tochter Esther neunzehn Jahre alt und verliess unser Zuhause, um ein Jahr in der Industrie zu arbeiten, bevor sie ihr Ingenieurstudium an der Universität begann. Das war nur eines von vielen Ereignissen, die in schneller Abfolge auf mich zukamen und einen tiefen Einschnitt in mein Leben bedeuteten.