Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Attached to the Signs


Being thankful is not telling God
you appreciate the fact that your life is not in shambles. 
If that is the basis of your gratitude,
you are on slippery ground.
Every day of your life,
you face the possibility
that a blessing in your life may be taken away.
But blessings are only signs of God's love.
The real blessing, of course, is the love itself.
Whenever we get too attached to the sign,
we lose our grasp on the God who gave it to us.
Churches are filled with widows who can explain this to you.
We are not ultimately grateful that we are still holding our blessings. 
We are grateful that we are held by God
even when the blessings
are slipping through our fingers.

~ C. Barnes

4 comments:

Laura said...

I like this! Thanks for sharing it. Reminds me of St. John of the Cross (Dark Night of The Soul). He tells of a movement from loving God for pleasures sake, to loving God for God's sake. It often happens in a "dark night" and it takes courage, tenacity and ultimately surrender. Of course it isn't that linear...it is more fluid and robust. It is a dynamic experience between God and person over the course of one's life. God gives us great pleasures (in each other, in our work, etc) to soothe our souls and to inspire faith. We can be grateful! Yet, I think God also knows that we can become addicted so when theses gifts leave us we can experience this an an opportunity to consider the giver over the gift; to hopefully to more deeply embrace God's divine embrace of us. All this said, I still miss the gift of Leslie. And God tells me that is ok. "Just lean into me," is what I hear him telling me.

my3boys said...

Beautiful. Who is this "C. Barnes"?

Cristi said...

Wow

Unknown said...

I my goodness! That is amazing truth!!!