Love/Mercy

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Cynthia Bourgeault, God's mercy, Helen Luke, Hosea, love, mercy, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Interesting to the readings this morning are the words love and mercy, used interchangeably from the first lectionary reading to the psalm. In the first reading from the prophet Hosea, (6:6), we read, For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice…Fast on the heels of Hosea—and referencing the same, we have the Psalm whose refrain states four times: It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice. So which is it? Love or mercy that God desires?

As soon as I wrote that question, I was catapulted back to Cynthia Bourgeault’s book, Mystical Hope, chapter two—a brilliant explication given by author Helen Luke and referenced by Cynthia, of the word “mercy.” (I’m sure many of you have heard me explain this before but it bears repeating.) “In her book, Old Age, Helen Luke explains that “the word “mercy” derives from the ancient Etruscan word merc; the words “commerce” and “merchant” share this same root. And so at heart, mercy means some kind of exchange or transaction. It is a connection word…The root meaning of exchange persisted and developed in another context, its meaning deepening through the French merci to a grateful response and kindness of heart, and finally to the compassion and forgiveness, including all our shades of darkness, where we are able to open ourselves to the Mercy”…(Bourgeault, p.23-24)

Although that sounds like love to me, the next page “seals the deal” with the following: So when we think of mercy, we should be thinking first and foremost of a bond, an infallible link of love that holds the created and uncreated realms together. The mercy of God does not come and go, granted to some and refused to others. Why? Because it is unconditional—always there, underlying everything. It is literally the force that holds everything in existence, the gravitational field in which we live and move and have our being. (p. 25)

Sit with that, if you will, and see if it doesn’t call forth a hearty “Thank you” to God.

“Come Back to Me”

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Gregory Norbert, Hosea, loving presence, remember, return, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The Book of the Prophet Hosea is replete with messages of love and forgiveness. God sometimes seems more human there than in any other place with regard to the “chosen people,” Israel. In today’s lectionary reading from the Hebrew Scriptures (HOS 11: 1-4, 8-9), we hear Hosea speaking for God saying, “When Israel was a child I loved him…It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms…” but then, disappointed, God laments, “Yet though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer…My heart is overwhelmed; my pity is stirred…” Like a disappointed parent, God is challenged by feelings of anger toward the ones on whom he has lavished so much love and care. But like those parents who love their offspring unconditionally, God remembers who he is: “I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you…” and, like a loving parent, God repents.

My heart is always stirred when I hear the song “Hosea” by Gregory Norbert that speaks of this relationship from God’s perspective. That we have a God so desirous of us, so willing to forgive in any situation, is enough for me to know. It reminds me that God is never absent but rather with me in every moment if I will just wake up to that loving presence that ignites my willingness to live my best possible life. It is in God, as St. Paul says, that we “live and move and have our being.” All we need to do is remember and return.

God Calling

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Benedictine, coming home, fear, frailty, heart, Hosea, living deeply, new life, return, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Weston Priory

In the early 1970s the Benedictine monks of Weston Priory in Vermont began a music ministry that has enhanced the spiritual growth of innumerable people over the past half century. One of the most beloved of their early compositions that still appears in church hymnals and touches hearts of those who desire relationship with God, even while knowing human frailty, is Hosea. It is based on passages from the book of the prophet Hosea in the Hebrew Scriptures, which is one of the most tender texts in the Bible as it recounts the relationship of Hosea and his harlot wife, Gomer – a representation of God’s relationship with Israel.

Those words in this morning’s lectionary (HOS 2:16-22) float through my mind and call me back to the song. The music itself is full of longing while the words simply and directly present God’s desire for us. It sings in my heart this morning as I listen to it again on YouTube.

God calls: Come back to me with all your heart. Don’t let fear keep us apart. Trees do bend, though straight and tall. So must we to others’ call. Long have I waited for your coming home to me and living deeply our new life.

How can I resist?

 

 

 

 

 

What Kind of Sacrifice?

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compassion, contrite, conversion, God, Hosea, Lent, Lord, love, mercy, penance, psalm 51, reform, sacrifice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Sometimes I think we can get carried away doing penance during Lent. I must admit that for many years I refused to talk about the need for repentance because I thought life held enough challenge and people I knew needed nothing more to feed their poor self-esteem. I have now come, I hope, to a healthier place where admission of imperfection lives in concert with a willingness to reform. This is the message that stands out to me in the lectionary readings for today, clarifying God’s desire for us and urging us on from the very first words.

Come, let us return to the Lord, Hosea calls out. Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord; as certain as the dawn is his coming…He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth…Speaking for God, Hosea then announces: For it is love I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (HOS 6:1-6)

The psalmist picks up the theme saying: Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe put my offense…My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. (PS 51)

These texts have taken up a peaceful place in my being and allow me to be confident in God’s compassionate acceptance of my honest efforts at conversion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return!

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come back, coming home, forgive, God, Hosea, protests, receive what is good, return, soul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, violence

One of the most popular and heartfelt “holy songs” of the early 1970’s, written at Weston Priory, Vermont in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, was based on the Book of the prophet Hosea. The haunting melody drew us in with the monks speaking for God, singing, Come back to me with all your heart. Don’t let fear keep us apart…Long have I waited for your coming home to me and living deeply our new life. There is a circle dance that we do now in wisdom schools that similarly calls us as we walk while singing: Return again, return again, return to the land of your soul…

Both of these melodies play in my head this morning as I read the text from Hosea calling Israel to a return to God. (HOS 14:2-10) The violence in our country is a daily thing this week – violence erupting last night among the people in the protests against violence! Like Israel of old, we seem to have lost our way. How are we to turn back now? Re-turn, God says. Keep turning. Turn until you meet the other turning toward you. Return to who you are. Return, says the Lord to Israel. Take with you words and return to the Lord. Say to God, “Forgive all iniquity and receive what is good…” Let the one who is wise understand these things; let the one who is prudent know them.

Whom will you meet and where will you find peace as you turn – and re-turn – this day?

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Time Is It?

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farming, God, Hosea, injustice, justice, piety, time

Another farming image took my attention this morning. The last few lines in the first reading from Hosea (10:12) sounded so direct and immediate while speaking to the whole of the seasonal process that it was hard to ignore. Sow for yourselves justice, says the prophet, reap the fruit of piety; break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the Lord. Attentiveness to the needs of the world and actions for the same are two sides of the call to justice – a call to which we are all responsible. Piety is sometimes seen as a virtue closed in upon itself, often coupled with the word “personal” so it seems to ignore others in the quest for holiness. But personal piety, it seems to me if we define it as the dictionary does, speaks of reverence and devotion which cannot help but overflow into our relations with others and the world. How can we be reverent toward God, devoted to the work of God, if we are not aware that all is one in God? Thus, piety calls for justice and justice for piety, so that we do not give in to the frustration and anger that come with the recognition of injustice. Hosea seems to be saying, however, that we are to go beyond our present understandings now. Breaking up a new field says to me something like “the harvest is plentiful but laborers are few.” It’s the last line that makes the whole thing seem so urgent. It’s time, people! Get out there (or go in!) and seek the Lord! It’s a new time and we need to be new people. Dig deeper! Ramp up your reverence! It’s time now. It’s time.

Tell It Like It Is

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God's love, Hosea, Lent, Pharisee, return to the Lord, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

My absence yesterday was due to a surprise intestinal bug, which is, hopefully, on its way out enough for me to put a few thoughts together.

The theme in each of today’s readings, as I see it, is about the familiar Lenten call to “return to the Lord” and counsels humility and honesty as the attitude necessary to accomplish reconciliation. The words of the psalm refrain encourage us that God’s stance regarding our return is: “It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice.” Why would we hesitate to approach this God? As a matter of fact, the prophet Hosea reminds us that it is God who comes to us, longing for us, more than we can imagine. “Let us know, Hosea says, let us strive to know the Lord; as certain as the dawn is his coming, and his judgment shines forth like the light of day! He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth.” Having the confidence that God is always on our side can allow us to approach God, having made an honest assessment of our lives and with a humility that is willing and unafraid to speak the truth to the God of love and understanding. That is the message of the gospel this morning – the familiar story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. We have probably all encountered people like the Pharisee who spends time thanking God that he is “not like the rest of humanity.” That arrogance is always off-putting. We hear only one simple sentence from the tax collector: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” That’s all that is necessary.

A footnote: Many of us grew up interiorizing the notion that we needed to be perfect in order to garner God’s approval, God’s love. One of the best analogies I have found about this is the definition of sin as “missing the mark.” It speaks of the necessity of practice before one is able to hit the bull’s eye; no one expects that this will be the outcome of a first attempt – or of many attempts. It’s the same with us in our living. No matter our intention to “get it right the first time” we most often fail along the way. We need to remember that God is cheering us on from the sidelines and waiting for us to be content with our missteps as long as we keep trying. And God’s mercy, that fierce love that God holds for us, washes over us like rain as soon as we are willing to stand before this God in humility and truth.