In the Holy Adventure, there is no ultimate distinction between loving God and loving our neighbor, including the non-human neighbor. In loving God, we gain a perspective on life that takes us beyond individualistic self-interest to care for the whole, even when it means personal sacrifice. In loving the neighbor, I bring greater beauty to God’s experience of the world. Loving God and creation are part of one dynamic spiral of relatedness.
God is in all things, moving through the lives of all creatures, great and small. All things are in God, that is, the love in the world flows into the divine and then back to the world. While God is more than the world and has a vision wider yet more intimate than our own, God is embedded in every moment, seeking the best possibilities for each creature and rejoicing in each creature’s happiness.
The philosopher Whitehead notes that God is the fellow sufferer who understands. God is also the intimate companion whose quest for beauty of experience finds fulfillment in our own experiences of love and beauty. God wants you to have a beautiful life, but God also wants everyone to have a beautiful life.
Today’s affirmations join the personal and the global and invite us to have a dynamic and personal relationship with God.
I experience God’s presence in every encounter.
My life is my gift to God and all creation.
In loving creation, I bring beauty to God’s life.
Throughout the day, listen to the calling of the present moment. The present moment is an opportunity to experience God in others, to bless the ones we encounter, and in so doing experience God’s blessings in our lives.
Bruce Epperly is a theologian, spiritual guide, healing companion, retreat leader and lecturer, and author of nineteen books, including Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living; God’s Touch: Faith, Wholeness, and the Healing Miracles of Jesus; and Tending to the Holy: The Practice of the Presence of God in Ministry. He has taught at Georgetown University, Wesley Theological Seminary, Claremont School of Theology, and Lancaster Theological Seminary. He is currently theologian in residence at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He can be reached at [email protected]
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