Basking in the Light

 

If you know me at all, you know how much I love the sun. I love the warmth of it on your skin, the light it gives to fill the room, the way it makes everything it touches seem brighter, happier, and not so heavy. It is a reminder to me that it will not always be dark. Not in the world, not in my mind, not in my circumstances. 

For the first month that I was here, the sun very rarely shown itself (like three times, maybe). Which was one reason that my transition here was so difficult. But thankfully this week, the sun has been out often, and on those days, I simply soak it in. One way I've been doing that is by going on walks everyday. One day this week, I was walking along the sidewalk and I noticed that at nearly every house, a dog was laying out, perfectly basking in the sun's light and heat. They looked completely content, not a care in the world. (I'm not sure if dogs ever have cares - but laying in that sun, they seem as worry free as they could ever be!) 

Before, I hadn't seen many people out and about, let alone dogs. The weather was almost always cloudy with a mix of rain and snow. Dreary, as my dad would say. 

But as I was looking at each of these dogs as I passed, I felt the Lord bring John 15 to my mind. Remain in me, the passage continually says. "Remain in me, as I also remain in you," Jesus says. "If you remain in me, and I remain in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." "If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." This one here in verse 9 is the kicker: 

"As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love."

I used to believe that God's love for me had to be earned, as if I could merit it with enough good deeds and selfless actions. Constantly trying to bring the scales of my life into balance in order to please Him. But here we see that there are no stipulations when it comes to God's love for us. Perhaps it is like the sun: constant everyday. It isn't always seen or felt everyday, but God's love is more than a miraculous sign or a feeling. His love isn't something that I can earn or conjure up on my own. 

So what would it look like for me to simply bask in the light of the Son? 

What would it look like for me to trust in His faithful presence, even when I cannot necessarily see it or feel it? To trust that I am loved and forgiven, despite the fact that I have and can never do anything to earn those truths?

I've been reading a book called Everything Belongs by Richard Rohr this week. 

It gives a beautiful depiction of what it is like to begin to recognize God's hand in everything, and to simply bask in His presence. 

Rohr speaks of God's love and forgiveness as a river, and faith as one's ability to trust the river: 

"I believe that faith might be precisely that ability to trust the river, to trust the flow and the lover. It is a process that we don’t have to change, coerce, or improve. We need to allow it to flow. That takes immense confidence in God, especially when we’re hurting...Faith does not need to push the river precisely because it is able to trust that there is a river. The river is flowing; we are in it. The river is God’s providential love — so do not be afraid."

(Rohr, Richard. Everything Belongs (p. 142-143). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.) 

What would it look like for you to bask in the light of the Son this week? To simply soak in His presence, without the need to strive, change, or manipulate. To simply be. To recognize God in everything - because with God, everything belongs.