“I loved Sarah, Charles. It was mine, that love. I owned it. Even Sarah didn’t have the right to take it away. I can love whoever I want.” Charles said, “But she thought you were pathetic.” Donald replied, “That was her business, not mine. You are what you love, not what loves you. That’s what I decided a long time ago.”
~ Susan Orlean, from Adaptation
THE OTHERS: Where has your Beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your Beloved turned, that we may seek Him with you? SHE: My Beloved has gone down to His garden to the beds of spices, to graze in the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine; He grazes among the lilies. HE: You are beautiful as Tirzah, My love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners. Turn away your eyes from Me, for they overwhelm Me— Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of ewes that have come up from the washing; all of them bear twins; not one among them has lost its young. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil. There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number. My dove, My perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, pure to her who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her. “Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?”
~ Jesus and each of us, in Song of Solomon 6
Oh beloved, it is true.
We, each of us, are far different from any other of His creations. In ways that we are frightened to even begin to believe, we have been made in the very image of G_d. However, our false humility (read: pride) won’t get out of the way – and let us get this.
Now, before this begins to sound just a little too weird, let’s get to the bottom of Who our Creator is. We understand that G_d is a Triune Being. And the foundational creeds of our faith attempt to communicate this Truth:
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father……. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
~ from The Nicene Creed
Each of us in the faith, have heard this creed. But, as is often true with things we have heard before, our familiarity with the words can cause us to miss the meaning. In allowing the Truth of the phrases above to settle within us, we begin to see that there is a Deep Harmony within this Trio. It is Them living and moving, and having Their Being within Each Other. And this Harmony is The Light from which Creation proceeds: Love.
Said more simply, it is not the Three infinite Persons of The Trinity that make Them Who They Are. It is Their Love relationship in and to Each Other that forms this One we call: G_d.
Said even more simply: “God is Love,” (cf. 1 John 4)
Can we see it?
There is something here that is profound beyond words if we do. Love is the very substance of The Trinity. It is not some sort of quality that They Possess. Love is Them. So, in Their creation, Their work was not something that was over and against some other force. No, creation is the giving of G_d Themselves to us in a general and beautiful revelation.
And, because it is Who They Are, Love does not diminish when it is not returned. Infinite Being cannot be made less, by being ignored or rejected by the finite.
But, where does that leave us? Can we let our pride go? Are we willing to believe enough for it to change us?
G_d has granted us, through His Divine Providence, a share of His very substance. He has given us Love. And, as any portion of the infinite is also infinite, we own a very real, and very tangible gift: Love (read: The substance of The Trinity).
So, if we can abdicate the throne of our own ego, and think beyond how everyone else is treating us, we have within our possession something that we can give away, yet never lose. We can, to say it more simply: Love people regardless of how they react to us. We can be good to those hurt us. We can accept those who reject us.
We are in control. For, within our being now dances the Harmony of The G_dhead; the substance of reality, and loving and infinite rhythm of their heart.
So again, do you feel the pain when people treat you badly? Do you feel the shame as people mock you? Do you ache when others reject your honest love towards them? Surely. However, what you hopefully now realize is that their rejection cannot damage who you truly are.
Tonight is your night. Time to believe that you are made in Their Image. You possess a gift that can never be taken away. You can Love. And nothing can stop this.
I Love, Therefore I Am.
~Archimandrite Sophrony
