Week 6 - God’s Love Rejected
Welcome to this Friday evening guided meditation where, in the silence and intimacy of this chapel, we may encounter our loving God.
Let us sit back and relax, breathe in and out a few times, and wait for what may unfold within us during the next half hour.
The theme of this week is: God’s love rejected.
Theme:
Good and evil dwell within the world. I look at the evil that appears in many forms. God’s love is constantly rejected, openly and brutally.
What I might desire:
That I may see where evil appears in the world;
That I may see how it harms people and creation;
That I may discover how deeply it damages Love;
But also, that I may learn how to deal with all of this.
Music: Lied aan het licht (Huub Oosterhuis) Ballad praising Light
Licht dat ons aanstoot in de morgen
Voortijdig licht waarin wij staan.
Koud, één voor één en ongeborgen,
Licht overdek mij, vuur mij aan.
Dat ik niet uitval, dat wij allen
Zo zwaar en droevig als wij zijn
Niet uit elkaars genade vallen
En doelloos en onvindbaar zijn.
Licht van mijn stad de stedehouder,
Aanhoudend licht dat overwint.
Vaderlijk licht, steevaste schouder,
Draag mij, ik ben jouw kijkend kind.
Licht, kind in mij, kijk uit mijn ogen
of ergens al de wereld daagt
waar mensen waardig leven mogen
en elk zijn naam in vrede draagt.
Alles zal zwichten en verwaaien
Wat op het licht niet is geijkt.
Taal zal alleen verwoesting zaaien
En van ons doen geen daad beklijft.
Veelstemmig licht, om aan te horen
Zolang ons hart nog slagen geeft.
Liefste der mensen, eerstgeboren
Licht, laatste woord van Hem die leeft.
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Light that strikes us in the morning,
Premature light in which we stand.
Cold, one by one and insecure,
Light, cover me, set me aflame.
That I may not fall away, that none of us,
Heavy and sorrowful as we are,
May fall from each other’s grace
And become aimless and lost.
Light of my city, steadfast guardian,
Enduring light that prevails.
Fatherly light, firm shoulder,
Carry me, for I am your watching child.
Light, child within me, look through my eyes
To see whether the world already dawns
Where people may live with dignity
And each bears their name in peace.
All will yield and be scattered
That is not aligned with the light.
Language will sow only destruction,
And none of our deeds will endure.
Many-voiced light, to be listened to
As long as our hearts still beat.
Most beloved among people, firstborn,
Light, final word of Him who lives.
Spotify Link:
https://open.spotify.com/track/3rEB9NoYzKXA8hhurpgjy5?si=022cf9e6f7bc433a
YouTube Link:
https://youtu.be/np4HzrrAUVg?si=zOJ-C-D4QKvKJsit
Luke 19: 41–46
‘And when He drew near, He looked over the city and wept over it, saying: “If only you too had recognised on this day what leads to peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a rampart around you, surround you and hem you in on every side; they will dash you to the ground—you and your children within your walls—and they will not leave one stone upon another, because you did not recognise the time in which mercy was granted to you.”
Then He entered the temple and began driving out those who were selling there, saying to them: “It is written: My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.”’
o What would Jesus feel if He were to approach my world today?
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o Removing the sellers from the Temple was a decisive act to clear away corruption. What would He wish to remove first from my own “temple”?
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o Does God invite me to wait until everything not aligned with the light has faded, or does He invite me to act with resolve, as Jesus did in the Temple?
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Music