The Damsel Thinks: Imprinted with Love

Praise be to You!

Praise the Beloved, O my soul!

I will praise You with all my being;

I will sing joyfully and with thanksgiving

to You, Heart of my heart!

Put not your trust in riches,

in illusionary things that fade away.

For when our day comes to depart this world,

at that very time, we carry

only the love imprinted upon our soul.

Blessed are those whose strength is

in the Beloved, whose trust is in You

O Divine Lover,

Who gave birth to the universe—

the heavens, earth and sea—

and all that is within them.

You are ever-faithful, bringing

balance and harmony to earth,

nourishment to body and soul.

You free us from the bonds of fear;

You give insight to those who would see

You lift up the faint-hearted,

giving succor to those who weep.

You watch over those on journey,

sending guides and angels to lead the way;

O, that we might become beacons of light

to those in darkness.

May You, who live forever in our hearts,

loose the fetters of fear that bind us,

that we might praise You always

with free and joyful song!

May it be so!

This is from a wonderful book called “Psalms for Praying; an invitation to Wholeness” written by Nan Merrill. It is taken from our Psalm today, 146. I often use her version of the psalms for meditating and centering. They seem to be cries straight from the heart, even as the psalmist did when he penned his psalms for his day and time.

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.” A.W. Tozer

Unity in the church is found in one place, and only one place, worshipping God. Turning our hearts toward the Beloved. What a simple and pure concept. And yet how difficult it seems to be. And I am not excluded from that. Sometimes it is just so hard to focus on the one who has given us all that is, including our own souls. There are far too many shiny and not so shiny objects around us!

Merril writes: Put not your trust in riches, in illusionary things that fade away.

The psalmist wrote: Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.

The words are different, the sentiment is the same. Be careful in what you trust. Not money, not leaders, not pastors, not creeds, not liturgy. These things are temporary and will one day all be gone. These things are all imperfect. And while God may use each of these things to speak to our hearts, to imprint love on our hearts, without being tuned to the Spirit’s tuning fork, they are nothing.

Paul wrote: “If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions and if I hand over my body so that I may boast[a] but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1 Cor. 13)

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. (1 John 4:16)

In today’s gospel reading (Luke 16, 19-31), Abraham tells the rich man that sending Lazarus to his brothers would not bring them to repentance. ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’

By the way, I think Jesus is making a point here that WE must hear. For he is risen, he is risen indeed! Are we convinced?

What brings one to repentance? Not just the changing of behavior, one can train an animal to change their behavior (house training), but by changing one's heart or mind. As Paul puts it in Romans 12 , “be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

I would suggest it is the turning of one's eyes, one's heart, one's trust, one's faith toward the Beloved, toward God. It is only in the midst of love that love is imprinted on our own souls.

What is it we focus on? Money, cars, clothes, sports, politics, the news? Think about it. Is that really what you want imprinted on your heart? The psalmist calls us to fix our praise, our worship, our focus on God, the creator of all.

Pastor Paul has been talking about baptism and being a baptized child of God in confirmation class. Today (Sunday) we baptized Myles. A baptized child of God.

The water is the physical representation of the love of God. I like to picture it as a big wet sloppy kiss from God saying welcome to the family.

But let’s think outside the box (or the font) for a moment. In Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples to baptize people in the name of the Father, and the Son , and the Holy Spirit. Immerse them, soak them, wash them in the name of God. How? Teach them all that Jesus has taught. Speak to them always about the God of love. Surround them with the words of Jesus. Baptize them with the love of God, thoroughly soaked in it.

I believe with all of my heart that unity in the church will be found in only one place. The worship of God. Soaking in God’s presence. Not liturgy, not works, not bank accounts, not creeds, not belief systems, but in turning our hearts fully to the worship of God and God alone. Unity must start with us.

What if the rich man worshiped God and not wealth and comfort and prestige? Let’s find out by trying it out with us, here and now, today. Abraham told the rich man that all the words of law and prophecy have not brought repentance. Repentance comes from the heart not the head.

May we truly open our hearts to the beloved and allow the love that is God be imprinted upon our hearts.