A garment of love...

"For the man and his wife the Lord God made leather garments, with which he clothed them."
Genesis 3:21

Today's first reading is the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. Eve is tricked by the serpent, who is described as "crafty," which is a fun description. Eve eats the apple, gives some to Adam, and yada, yada, yada, we're all doomed. But, if we read a bit further in the chapter, after Adam and Eve have made themselves fig leaf outfits and are hiding from God, we see that God makes them leather garments to cover themselves. God, even though they sinned against God, is helping them to heal from their own sin. God recognizes how their sin has harmed them, making them aware of their nakedness and inadequacy and God tries to heal that, right then and there. I have the most delightful mental picture of God sitting at a sewing machine, fervently sewing these garments! (Who's "crafty" now, serpent?) I sort of wish THAT picture would have been planted in my mind as a young child, instead of the emphasis on Adam and Eve's sin...But that's just me. Blessings on your February weekend and remember: don't wallow in your guilt and sin. God is sewing for you a garment of love and forgiveness. Love, heidi

Of hearts and mercy...

"But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of man that they may repent.
But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things."
Wisdom 11:23, 26

If there was ever clear evidence that we should always leave the judgment to God, here it is! God is the just judge, the One who knows each heart and mind and can make a much more merciful and compassionate judgment that any human could ever make. I'm not sure why we think we should be judging others, but we sure do! We make hasty judgments based on appearance, attitude, personality; none of which has anything to do with the heart's center, where God resides. On this day of hearts, Valentine's Day, let's think of God's spirit residing in the hearts of everyone we meet. Truly, God made every heart, fashioning it carefully and perfectly. Who are we to judge it? Love, heidi

Created equally...for love

"Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness'...God created humankind in God's image, in the divine image God created them; male and female God created them...God looked at everything created and found it very good."
Genesis 1:27, 31

Needless to say, I prefer this creation story to the one in Genesis Chapter 2--the whole Adam's rib thing. According to author and mystic Cynthia Bourgeault, who is teaching a course I'm taking on Mary Magdalene, can't we just give Adam his rib back and all be equally created by God? But that isn't the main point I want to bring out here. God created us and saw we are good. And we need to hang our hats on that. We are good, God loves what God creates and that should do us all just fine as we go through our lives. Unfortunately, we grew up with the notion that we are inherently sinful and we need to spend our lives making up for that, or worse, that God commanded that Jesus die on the cross to atone for our sins. I grew up with that theory and it never seemed right to me. Why would God be so angry with humans down through history to warrant Jesus dying on the cross to make God like us again? Lucky for me, I have found, through Fr. Richard Rohr, the Franciscans who didn't promote this belief. They believe that Jesus' coming was always Plan A--to show us how to live and that God loves us immeasurably. So, today, as we go about our February Tuesday, let's remember that we are created by God in love, for love and in hope that we will love in return. This close to Valentine's Day there are hearts everywhere...let them remind us of God's immeasurable love! Love, heidi