Christmas is now upon us. Last time I wrote of that connection of love with our earthly fathers, and how that can affect the relationship with Our Heavenly Father, and our reception of the gifts He imparts. Ultimately, our paradigm for relationship is that love of the Heavenly Father for the Divine Son, and that love the Son returns to the Father. The Son did take flesh in time, and the Father loved Him still as a Son with humanity. And this Divine Son loved the Father not only divinely, but also humanly, with a human heart. This heart had a human journey or “formation” to be sure.
And what of our human hearts? How were they handled? The journey that our hearts have made with our parents is going to tell allot about us. This will likely define how we relate to our Heavenly Father. So, to work through this, we have to face this journey in own upbringing. In our natural perspective, we must know that we are worthy the love and gifts of an earthly father in order to be fully convinced that we are worthy of the love and gifts of the Heavenly Father. A great struggle with many. To my thinking, if you cannot get past this, you cannot move forward in life very well. And you will be held back spiritually.
If we do not face our hearts, something will always hold our soul back from the dynamic of love to which we are called. Many men I find are confused about their interior longings and frustrations of soul. And they feel trapped. There can be some relief when we come to understand certain patterns of our behaviors: the strengths and weaknesses of our father's love for us, how we respond to the love of God, how we embrace His direction in our lives, the difficult circumstances we face, the joys. Yes, it can be somewhat of a painful journey -- of looking at yourself, facing your heart and your pains, particularly in light of your journey as a son.
How do we begin this quest of facing the heart? Well, as I mentioned before, just begin speaking to your Heavenly Father. What are you to say? Well, just look at how the Divine Son spoke to His Father. Look at his words carefully, notice how He approaches Him. And maybe just imitate His style. And wait patiently for the Heavenly Father to speak back.
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3 comments:
Father:
I enjoyed this post not only from a physical standpoint, but also a spiritual one. I am blessed to be a follower of your blog, and pray that Our Blessed Lord will bless your efforts and all the clergy's efforts to feed His sheep with the love of God.
"And wait patiently for the Heavenly Father to speak back"... Very true and very hard for most men to do, in today's "I need it in an instant" mindset, waiting is not an option. For me sometimes, waiting is the hardest thing to do and in that fustration and lack of fous I sometimes do not see that the answer has been provided for some time.... Thinking back, I think I had more paitence when I was a kid.
Looking back in yime, this makes a lot of sense. My father, who I know loves me, was not the loving type. I really did not love myself as a person growing up. I felt that for years what I did was never good enough. As my father grew in his ability to show his love, I also now realize my ability to love myself grew, too. And thus my relationship with God also grew.
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