Starry, starry night
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Sunday, February 24, 2013
Second Sunday of Lent
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/022413.cfm
Genesis 15:1, 12
The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I am your shield.”
As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror fell upon him.
In the Torah, God tells us “Do not be afraid” 19 times. In the entire Bible, he tells us, “Do not be afraid” 184 times. In 1978 Pope John Paul II began his papacy with the words, “Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ!”
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We are still afraid, afraid even of opening the doors to Christ. Will not what happened to Abram, happen to me? A “great and darksome horror”? That is surely what my false self, my ego, thinks, and in a way, it is right. There is no resurrection before death, only after. And death does not come lightly.
But God does not abandon Abram into a nightmare of no return. This amazing chapter of Genesis begins with blessing and ends with blessing. Abram is God’s chosen one, as are we.
God’s safety is a completely different thing than the “safety” I have created for myself. God’s is real. Mine is not. But God requires what is sometimes called “abandonment to divine providence.” And that, for my ego, is terrifying. It means certain death.
And certain resurrection.
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Lord God, your hand holds me and your wing covers me, and you will never let me go. You choose to have a personal relationship with me, breathing in and out with me, and I am safe with you. Far more safe with you than I am with myself. You are my light and my salvation.
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1148
