Saturday, May 17, 2014

Unconditional Love


Henry Nouwen wrote, “Drinking the cup that Jesus drank is living a life in and with the Spirit of Jesus, which is the Spirit of unconditional love. The intimacy between Jesus and Abba, his Father, is an intimacy of complex trust, in which there are no power games, no mutually agreed upon promises, no advance guarantees. It is only love—pure, unrestrained, and unlimited love. Completely open, completely free. That intimacy gave Jesus the strength to drink his cup. That same intimacy Jesus wants to give us so that we can drink ours. That intimacy has a Name, a Divine Name. It is called Holy Spirit. Living a spiritual life is living a life in which the Holy Spirit will guide us and give us the strength and courage to keep saying yes to the great question. (Can You Drink the Cup? Henri J. M. Nouwen: p. 119).

Nouwen’s words were penned with a deep desire to be faithful, a faithfulness that cannot be achieved without an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Living God. I imagine we can empathize with Bishop Rueben Job’s words in his book on prayer life: “I have seen failure and success, loss and gain, and more times than I wish I have failed to live up to my own prayer, to be faithful.” 
Praying is a spiritual discipline that is not just about the time set aside to connect to the Divine, but about all the moments in between when God’s divine presence and unconditional love encourages and strengthens us. I find great comfort in knowing Jesus is praying for me and even though I sometimes fail to be all God wants me to be, the Holy Spirit is with me every step of the way not judging, but encouraging me in the journey.


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