CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH...
“[T]he heaven I
believe in … is a taste for the More.
‘The Kingdom of heaven is within you,’ Jesus taught. Life around me will not cease to be whatever
it is, perhaps, but life within me always offers more. More depth of understanding. More of a sense of justice. More breadth of wisdom. More levels of gratitude. More layers of kindness. More grasp of God. Heaven is nothing but fullness of life and
union with God. If I do not burst into
heaven here, make heaven here for me, for everyone, I sincerely doubt that I
will find it anywhere else. This life as
I have been given it is my beaker of God who is in everything, everyone
everywhere.”
“The Creed gives a testimony to creation that creation has
far too long ignored. God, the Creed
insists, created the earth. The earth, like us, in other words, breathes
the breath of God… Until we stop
denying our interconnectedness with the rest of nature, we will never find God
where God is most clear…”
Practical: Cultivate the kingdom of heaven here on
earth, a kingdom made manifest in the love that flows out from you to those
around you. This week, be self-aware as
that love flows from you, and recognize, each time it does, that that is a
taste of heaven, the interconnectedness we have with one another and with the
earth around us.
Quotations from Benedictine
sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the
Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static
set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest
meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage
more deeply in relationship with God and with each other. Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to
live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and
inspirational.
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