love hurts

It is a time to discover new stories about our God, who could not bear to stand apart from our suffering and joined us to live as we might live. . . .

 

Our God, who poured Herself into the creation of all that exists, is subject to risk, to being fractured and torn, just as we are. . . .

 

          Sally A. Howard, “Secure Dwelling and Positive Meaning in the Face of Trauma,”          “Trauma,” Oneing, vol. 9, no. 1 (CAC Publishing: 2021), 25–26, 27.

___________________________

 

it is the very nature of Sacred

to be incarnate

 

incarnation is self-revelation

incarnation is presence

incarnation is “standing with”

 

all creation is the incarnation

of that powerful presence we call

(for lack of a better way)

God

 

it is all the creativity, all the wonder

all the love

of the Sacred made real

 

Jesus was Sacred incarnate

And the Spirit too

 

God with us

 

and so too we human creatures

as Sacred children

carriers of divine DNA

are incarnation

 

into us too

into these fragile shells

Sacred has flowed and is embodied

 

there is power here

the power of Love

 

for God is, if nothing else

Love

 

and love hurts

 

we know that all too well

 

Ah, there is joy in love

and ecstasy too

 

but when we love we see,

we feel

and we see and feel it all

not just the joy, but also the pain

 

when we love we can be hurt

when we love we can feel the hurt of others

 

the more we love, the more we hurt

and God

God loves (God IS love)

really, really, loves

 

and so God hurts

yes, God feels pain when we violate the Sacred way

as we feel pain when our love is violated

Love is pained when we hate,

when we are caught up in lies

when we abuse power

or succumb to greed

 

but mostly God feels our pain

our fear, our emptiness

our anger, our longing

 

when we hurt, God hurts

and does what any lover does in such moments

 

comes alongside

with patience,

with comfort

with embrace

with love

 

God joins us in our pain

and through presence works with us

to help us move through the pain

to help us carry the pain

and

in the end,

transform and redeem