In whom the image is blurred

the Bible is full of questionable characters

it is a perfect plethora of imperfect people

not a one (Jesus aside)

is flawless

 

instead, they are deeply flawed, one an all

 

Adam and Eve who want to be like God”

 

Abraham with his limited faith

and messy attempts to fulfill the promise on his own

 

Jacob!  Ah, that little cheat!

 

Moses, with feet of clay.

 

Peter, the unstable

Paul, with his thorn in his side

 

and yet they are all loved

by that Love in which we move and live and have our being

they are loved when they triumph

and loved when they don’t

 

loved when they fall into place

and loved when they wrestle with God

 

they are just loved

just because

that is how Love (God) loves

 

Not because of the strength and the beauty

Not because of the flaws

Just because

 

“God did not love Jacob because he was a cheat, but because he was Jacob”

 

And God does not love me because I am impulsive, or anxious

nor because I am compassionate and articulate (I hope)

but because I am Stephen

 

Because I am

I am a Sacred Child

I am a carrier of the Spirit

I am one in whom God has made a home

 

And so it is with all of us

 

All

Of

Us

 

The worlds fly from my fingers

But my heart lingers

 

Am I really loved that way?

Really?

And what about those people who make me

sad

angry

 

what about those people who disgust me?

 

Can it really be true that they do not disgust God?

Trump, Manchin, Sinema, McConnell, McCarthy, Carlson

I have my list

I’m checking it twice!

 

Does God love Donald Trump not because he is power-hungry

but because he is Donald?

 

Yes

 

God loves all of us

Even when we wrestle

Even when we are cruel, and liars, and cheats, and unfaithful

Even when we drink too much or eat too much

 

It may be a painful love

But we know God is willing to carry pain

The pain of our failure

Out of love

 

And willing to dwell in our hearts

Patiently

Powerfully

To transform

 

No wonder God asks us to pray for our enemies

And bless those who curse us

 

This is powerful stuff

This is difficult stuff

 

I am reluctant

I want to hang on to my anger and resentment

I want retribution

God help me, I do

 

But the message is clear.

God loves us all

All of us wounded creatures

In whom the image is blurred

 

And I am called to look for the divine image

To look at all people with attentive compassion

To see them

Their hurt.

Their tiredness

Their pain, fear, and anger.

 

I am to see them in all their stubbornness and frailty

to see the source of their woundedness

and to see not only the hurt they cause others

but also the hurt they cause themselves

 

and if I cannot feel love toward them

perhaps I can pray for them a little

 

just because