God wants You

God wants you

You in your imperfect, broken, shimmering glory

                                                Nadia Bolz-Weber,  Accidental Saints, p.169

______________________________________

God wants you

not just the parts of you that are joyful

and gracious

not just the self that you present to the world

filtered

and ultimately false

but God wants you

all of you

the good

and the bad

the generous and the stingy

the forgiving and the bitter

the one who loves

and the one who hugs hate to his or her heart

the strong and the weak

you need hide nothing

you need hold nothing back

Sacred Presence is ready to enfold

to comfort

to transform

to empower

so that you can,

broken open by love,

allow your

shimmering glory

to shine in a darkening world

Treat the Children (of God) Well

If you want to know the religion of a man,

do not look at how much he prays and fasts,

rather look at how he treats people!!!

                                                Imam Ja'far al Sadiq (as)

________________________________________

it is not so much what I believe

nor what rituals I follow

nor what sacred text I read

it matters not what I wear

on a chain around my neck

or what kind of bumper sticker I put on my car

it doesn’t even matter which religion

I claim as mine

none of those things reveal

the God I truly follow

as much as whether I am kind to a hurting person

generous to one who is needy

accepting of one who is different

loving to one who is difficult

caring to one who needs healing

it matters how I treat people

for each person is

a child of God

and I am called

by the Sacred I would follow to

welcome

them

Whatever we love we are

This is a subtle truth

Whatever you love you are

                                                Rumi

_____________________________

what do we love?

whatever it is

it shows

whatever it is, it makes a difference

in what we say and do

what does it say

about where our heart is

when we hate

when we exclude and reject

and judge

what does it say when open carry is a priority

and feeding the hungry isn’t?

I suspect such things not only say something

about what we love

but who we love

if we love God

who is love

we should

what?

the subject today is love