All or nothing might well encourage the enterprising explorer to understand that our relationship with the divine mystery invites us to dive in the deep end immersing our entire life in the care of The Father, there being no paddling pool where we may dip our toes in anticipation of discovering whether the water is to our satisfaction.
The life that we freely accept in the care of Our Saviour will build our self respect equipping us with all that we will need to become a willing friend of The One who saves us from drowning in our self excavated pit of ego driven self service.
Paul of Tarsus was very definite when writing:
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ~Galatians 2:20
Trust is the foundation of our relationship with the divine mystery without which there can be no loving friendship with The Father.
No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. ~ John 15:15
The Divine Presence in our life will intervene time, after time to persuade us to let Him become our advisor and guide in all matters. When eventually we twig that there is another life, living at one with our own we begin to recognise a friend deeply concerned for our well being loving us beyond our comprehension.
There are those who speak of the mystical, or esoteric reality of our being human, whereas the lover understands that there are no words that can adequately describe the relationship that one has with our greatest friend.
Lovers entwined in a loving relationship are often tempted to believe that nothing else can exist beyond their embrace, whereas Our Father daily encourages us to embrace those He sends to us to love, that we may through our sacrifices for others, express our love for our Heavenly Father.
“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them” ~ Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island
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