March 2, 2009


Ahh....

I am reading and greatly enjoying Eugene H. Peterson's CHRIST PLAYS IN TEN THOUSAND PLACES - 2005, Eerdmans. It is a treasure of how to think about your spiritual person.

Tucked in along the way are great numbers of references to literary sources.

This one was an "ahh" moment for me a day ago...

It is from lines written by a great poet - W.H.Auden...

"I love to sin; God loves to forgive;
The world is admirably arranged."

"I love to sin."
...that made me smile. Not thinking of a sin...but reveling in his simple honesty. Had I ever heard anyone admit that before? Had I ever admitted that to myself?
So, in four short and direct words, Auden has put a smile on my face....a smile of relief....and I wish that I could read more of him right away. With that kind of candor, I could learn much.

"God loves to forgive."
...that made me want to shout. I have always known that God forgives, if...... I have known that God has made a way for forgiveness......that His forgiveness is forever and that His forgiveness comes with gifts attached....most noticeably, peace, and joy and heaven.

But...."God loves to forgive??" -
....and I thought about how often I have been performance oriented in my forgiveness....and how so often, finally and begrudgingly I have issued forth just enough forgiveness to make life tolerable again.

And God loves to forgive?....He gets joy out of it? He celebrates it? He welcomes us when we come asking? Wow God!! Wow!

"The world is admirably arranged."

So that the messes we get into can be fixed.

So that the heart of darkness that we find ourselves bearing can become light again.

So that we can hardly wait until heaven....when the "lovers" will meet.....and the dance begins.

Selah.

Dave