Just listening to a sermon from our pastor at Mariners Church in Annapolis .
.. . . Enjoying the benefits of a wonderful supportive sending church, modern
technology and resources. What a gift to be fed.

Struck by Pastor Bill’s comments regarding God’s word giving us life, and
the life that we receive being internalized and then shared. It is not
given simply for us, but to be passed on.

Also today, reading Life of the Beloved, by Herni J M Nowen, who discusses
God’s work in our lives in terms of four words; taken, blessed, broken and
given. Which of course, bring us back to the old analogy of bread, of the
five loaves and two fishes, of the Last Supper.

Nowen states so well the simple truth that changes everything . . . I hope
that as you read these words God’s heart will speak into yours and you will
resonate to the beauty and perfection there.

“All I want to say to you is ‘you are the Beloved’ and all I hope is that
you can hear these words as spoken to you with all the tenderness and force
that love can hold. My only desire is to make these words reverberate in
every corner of your being – ‘you are the Beloved’.”

There’s a beautiful worship song that says, “if we could see how much He’s
worth, His power, His might, His endless love. Then surely we would never
cease to praise Him.”

Who is this God? This God who calls you and me Beloved?? Who found us
worth sending His only Son to die for? Who loves us without reason and
beyond measure? Who cares not that we choose ourselves over Him day after
day, cares not that we will never love Him well until He Himself perfects
us. Loves us from before eternity, before we ever had anything to offer,
anything to show. Who knows the very deepest and darkest parts of our
hearts . . . Those saddest, most painful, most difficult parts . . . . And
loves us even more because of those.

He waits, ever-present, whispering into our hearts, “my Beloved”, believe
yourself beloved . . . . . I find this truth central to my faith, the very
core. He loves you and me, without reason and without condition, and that
love has changed history and eternity.