A Message of Love

So apparently, I'm on this taking a song and relating it to me and Jesus kick. This is not, as we know, a new thing for me as half these posts are popular song titles that come to me in prayer. But I also attribute it to discussions with friends and this awakening of my analytical side again.

Today a couple songs were running through my itunes after spiritual direction this morning. But this one really struck me:

A Message- by Coldplay

My song is love
Love to the loveless shown
And it goes up
You don't have to be alone
Your heavy heart
Is made of stone
And it's so hard to see you clearly
You don't have to be on your own
You don't have to be on your own

And I'm not gonna take it back
And I'm not gonna say I don't mean that
You're the target that I'm aiming at
Got to get that message home

My song is love
My song is love, unknown
But I'm on fire for you, clearly
You don't have to be alone
You don't have to be on your own

And I'm not gonna take it back
And I'm not gonna say I don't mean that
You're the target that I'm aiming at
And I'm nothing on my own
Got to get that message home

And I'm not gonna stand and wait
Not gonna leave it until it's much too late
On a platform I'm gonna stand and say
That I'm nothing on my own
And I love you, please come home

My song is love, is love unknown
And I've got to get that message home

So good, right? I know I joke alot about having a heart of stone, so this hit home, perhaps particularly to me :) Can we picture God saying this to us? God clearly "on fire" for us? Not "taking back things He's said" or what they might mean, but telling us those things because He loves us?

Of course, not all the lyrics literally translate- God is fine without us. He's GOD. But because He loves us, He WANTS us. So that line, "I'm nothing on my own" probably is more our line of surrender to Him, but also that while He doesn't need us, He doesn't want to be alone up there in heaven. He wants us.

So, this song came up on my itunes, and then I began to read the readings for the day. They are all readings of God's MERCY. From the first reading from Micah:

Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt…who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, and will again have compassion on us…” - Micah 7: 15, 18-20

To the Psalm: The Lord is Kind of Merciful Psalm 103

And the Gospel is the Prodigal Son that I know gets played out but for such a good reason. It's such the ultimate example of how a lover feels about the beloved. The Father totally is singing that Coldplay song in His own way to the son:

"While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him." - Luke 15:20

Kind of like Chris Martin's "I'm not gonna stand and wait. I'm not going to leave it until its much too late." The Father comes running at us with His love.

Okay, so how come we can't always see it? And how come it seems like He IS waiting to come running at us sometimes?

It's like I said last post, it's usually our sin and our humanness that get in the way. God is always running at us with open arms in one way or the other, perhaps not just the way we think.

My spiritual director explained the beauty of the Father's love and His plan to me in a beautiful way today. It's like our lives are a tapestry. And the Father is looking at it from the side we see displayed at museums. But we see it from behind, all the threads that don't make sense- that don't seem to form a picture. But if we try to cut the threads or rearrange them, it will alter the picture that God sees.

I must admit, these songs of love and these beautiful woven tapestries are images that are hard for me to dive into for some reason. Alot of us can't believe that God or anyone showers us with such love or sees such beautiful things in us. Why is it hard for us to look at beauty? Especially when it pertains to us? Our culture has MUCH to do with it, but I promise not to go on that tangent.

I just am- like the 5+ feet of snow we got this year- starting to melt away some of these parts that I thought frozen. And as I observed the other day (and tweeted on Twitter...yeah, I'm such a nerd): when the snow melts, it's good, but it kind of leaves a big ol' mushy mess. It's gross. No one likes to look at it. But it has to happen if the snow is going to ever leave...

God knows what He's doing ;) May we let Him embrace us where we are at.

Peace,
Julia