A Greater Understanding

I try to set aside a couple of times each day to read the scriptures of the day and pray. Lately, however, though I’ve been faithfully reading the daily scriptures, I haven’t really taken the time for prayer. I figured I was doing enough by being conscious of and talking about God. It was something a friend sent me on facebook that got me to thinking I hadn’t heard God in a while and I wondered why.

That night, as I opened my Magnificat for evening prayer, I realized I hadn’t heard God speaking to me because I hadn’t been speaking to Him. Though He knew what was in my heart, He was waiting patiently for me to talk to Him about it. I closed my book and put it aside. This was the private personal time I’d needed to spend with my Lord and I opened my heart to His love and understanding.

It’s not unusual to hear God just before going to sleep or in that half-sleep period before waking up. These are the times our minds are most relaxed and receptive. I learned a long time ago to keep a pad and pen next to my bed because the times I told myself I’d remember the things I "heard", I didn’t. I felt I’d never forget the understanding that was given me last night, but taking no chances, wrote it down anyway. As it turned out, I don’t have to look at what I wrote. This further understanding God gave me is a gift to be kept, treasured and shared.

I often meditate on the two commandments given us by Jesus and, to be honest, struggle with the second one. Especially with all that’s going on in the world, it’s so difficult to respond to hatred with love.

"‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)

Last night He spelled it out for me.

It’s impossible to do one without the other. In my loving God I have to love my neighbor and in loving myself and my neighbor, I am loving God. God lives within His creation and in order to love Him I must also love everything He has created. My loving is the loving of the God who lives within. I cannot, therefore, profess to love God without also loving all. This doesn’t mean I condone the actions of others but it does mean I must see beyond the human and love the divine within.

In following the first commandment....centering heart, mind and soul on loving God... the second is automatically fulfilled.