Getting a Handle on Things

by Bill Lambert

I’ve just spent a week in the Marlborough Sounds with my old yachting mate, Pat, at his bach. Nothing much to do.  Nothing much we can do.  He’s 91 and I’m 81. So I have all the time in the world to do some serious thinking to get a better handle on things,  with the help of Thomas Merton (Google him).

I jotted down the following definitions which may or may not appeal as we all have our own relationship with God.  But if they should be helpful, here they are…

I used to think that evil was the opposing power to good – equal and opposite.  And I couldn’t understand how God, who is love, could allow it to exist.  I realise now that love and evil are not heads and tails.  Evil is the absence of love.  It is as negative to love as -2 is to +2.

To love is to feel the warm energy of God’s love flowing through us to touch everyone  with kindness.

To forgive is not just to excuse, or to discount the hurt.  It is to love, warts and all, like God loves us.

Hope is not expectation and self-justification.  It is a constant optimism in the sure knowledge of God’s love and mercy.

Faith is not just the Apostles Creed.   It is a growing awareness of the infinite love and the awesome majesty and glory of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Prayer is more than raising the mind and heart to God.   It is praising and thanking God for everything and sharing every experience and every moment with him.

Humility is the knowledge that I am nothing without God.

My favourite text: “Be Still And Know That I Am  God”