Pure Love

Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness… Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.  Gen 1:26, 2:7,15

I love reading the creation story in Genesis and have often contemplated upon what and how things happened.  After all, in my mind, this is the beginning and the foundation of God’s earthly creation. I envision that God created the body that made man but more importantly He breathed His pure love and life into Adam. I can hardly imagine the incredible purity and flawlessness of God’s incredible creation especially as He breathes His love into Adam and Eve.  God breathes His love and life into them and gives them dominion over all His creation!

Those instructions He gave Adam and Eve cause me to think that it meant to cultivate and care for the love He shared with them, not just the earth and the animals.  God was calling them to cultivate and grow their relationship together. He was communicating His trust in them and providing instructions on how to develop a loving relationship with Him.  He clearly was in continual communication with them as described with the Lord God walking about in the garden at the breezy time of day Gen 3:8. 

I think to myself how God shares His pure love with us and calls us to cultivate and care for our world and our relationship with Him every day.  With every new day we have the opportunity of a new beginning and starting afresh. Every day we can strive to align ourselves with God’s will and work towards purifying our relationship with Him.

How do we do that?

Like in the Garden of Eden communicating with God regularly is of utmost importance.  Prayer changes everything in our lives especially our focus and disposition. Consider the first words of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father.”  We are directly calling upon God’s attention and putting ourselves before Him.  Ponder the words and our actual intentions we express as we slowly pray the Our Father.

Our Father who art in heaven (ponder), hallowed be thy name (ponder), thy kingdom come, thy will be done (ponder), on earth as it is in heaven (ponder), give us this day our daily bread (ponder), and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us (ponder), and lead us not into temptation (ponder), but deliver us from evil (ponder).

Identify how you can continue to purify yourself in the Lord each day.  It may be by beginning with the Our Father or a short prayer that helps you draw focus like, “Open my eyes Lord so I may see your face, Open my ears Lord so I can hear your voice, Open my heart Lord so that I can love like you do.”  Or, “Praise the Lord Oh my soul.” What works for you?

Consider also that Scripture is the Living Word of God. He speaks to us personally in Scripture if we will open ourselves to receiving His messages.  Spending time every day reading and contemplating on Scripture is cultivating and growing who we are as well as our relationship with Him.  Listening for God’s voice in our thoughts and taking it in is how we begin to further our understanding and aligning ourselves more closely with His will and to the joy He has prepared for us.

Move on to Scripture, or going to daily Mass.  Whatever way you start your day, envision how you want to cultivate and care for that most important relationship. Draw upon the Holy Spirit to guide you in cultivating and caring for your relationship with God and purifying your love for God. The joy and peace that He wants to share with you is unmatchable anywhere else.

Let us always with open heart and soul receive the Lord and share His pure love with others so that we and they may Shine Like the Son. God bless you.

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