Prime Love--It Can't Be Divided

Scripture

(Romans 8:38,39) For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Observation

Several facts are certain for souls that look to Christ Jesus for lordship. First, no transition (or rut) anywhere within the range between life and death can divide that soul away from God's love. Second, no conniving by good angels (a statement ludicrous enough to qualify as sarcasm) nor any action by any ruler--good or bad--can create any cooling distance between God's love and that soul. Third, no physical change in the structure of the universe--no movement of time (current or conceivable) nor space nor energy--can divert away, drain away, dissipate, or diminish the direct provision of God's attentive love to that soul. Finally, each of these people receives a full portion--whether it's manna, bread loaves and fish, still waters and green pastures, or the wedding feast of God's Son--no one gets less than a satisfying portion of God's love. His love surpasses all constructs of knowledge and creation (Ephesians 3:14-21).

Application (Personal)

As I've yielded myself to the Lordship of Christ Jesus, His love for me is "unobstructable." So, with no person or power able to diminish, distract, or dissuade it, I'm left alone in my responsibility before God. Blaming anything or anyone doesn't work. I alone decide whether to enjoy His love or dismiss it. 1 John has been particularly helpful as I try to better understand what it means to live in the brightness of His unshadowed love: "Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love" (1 John 4:8).

Application (Psychological)

How do I learn to appreciate and become more aware of God's love? Daniel Siegel (I have no idea what his spiritual relationship with Christ is) defines mindfulness being "mindfully aware, attending to the richness of our here-and-now experiences, [it] creates scientifically recognized enhancements in our physiology, our mental functions, and our interpersonal relationships. Being fully present in our awareness opens our lives to new possibilities of well-being" (The Mindful Brain, 2007, p. xiii).

Siegel suggests eight senses (not five) that are categories of awareness (pp. 122-123). The first five include our well-known senses.They bring us information about the outside, physical world through our sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. The sixth sense includes sensations of our internal milieu, including our bodies' spatial and internal states, such as movement in our organs, nerves, and muscles. Rothschild (The Body Remembers, 2000, p. 18) calls this sense proprioception. The seventh sense pertains to our minds--our thoughts, feelings, intentions, attitudes, concepts, images, beliefs, hopes, and dreams. Finally, the eighth sense pertains to our relationships--our ability to "feel felt" by another and to feel a part of a larger, relational whole. By the way, Rothchild catalogues our vestibular sense (awareness of up) as a separate category. She lists the five common senses, plus proprioception and and vestibular perception as sixth and seventh, respectively.

Thousands of years ago, David had insight into the value of this mindfulness, but he added a crucial element that is missing from most of today's discussions of mindfulness: prayer, praise, and listening to the Holy Spirit. He wrote: "On the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on all your wondrous works, I will meditate. . . . All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord. . . . The Lord is faithful in all His words . . . The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. . . . You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing" (Psalm 145). Now that's holistic mindfulness.

Prayer

Lord, when I wander through my day unaware and inattentive to You, I find myself praying to myself in much the same way that the Pharisee You described prayed to himself instead of You (Luke 18:9-14). When I do that, I find that my view of myself is falsely inflated in proportion to my devaluing of You and others. May I rise today to the stature of that humble man You described. He was intimidated by the greatness of Your lovingkindness, and wisely moved himself closer to You as best as he could. Help!