A reminder of God's love

We all have our routines before we go to bed and I'm glad to say that reading Harry Potter aloud to my daughter has become one for us (I don't know whether she appreciates my doing a variety of voices for all the characters, but I have a lot of fun with it).

In addition to J.K. Rowling and prayers and brushing teeth, I always tell her I love her before I head out of her room. Every once in a while, though, I want to make sure she really hears me so I kneel down at her level and I her ask her if she really knows how proud her mom and I are of her and how deeply we love her. A smile usually comes across her face and she nods her head. I think she appreciates that extra effort.

The news that God loves us may not be novel. For some, this may be a radical thing, but others spent many a Sunday School class singing "Jesus loves me, this I know" over and over and over. Every once in a while, though, I think God stops and tries to convey this in a different way so that we really know the depth of that love. I read something by the spiritual writer Henri Nouwen this week that was a good reminder for me. Nouwen writes how he imagines what God might be saying to him:

"I have called you by name, from the very beginning. You are mine and I am yours. You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests. I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother's womb. I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother and her child. I have counted every hair on your head and guided you at every step. Wherever you go, I go with you, and wherever you rest, I keep watch. I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger and drink that will quench all your thirst. I will not hide my face from you. You know me as your own as I know you as my own. You belong to me. I am your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your lover and your spouse...yes, even your child...wherever you are I will be. Nothing will ever separate us. We are one."

I believe God says this to all of us. All. Of. Us. May we never forget it.