Revelation 3:20

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone will open to me, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

These words of Jesus are not simply picturesque poetry.  It is truly a question of who is the host and who is the guest.  He means to be with us in every circumstance of our lives, in conversation, in deliberation, in reflection, in our work.  He would sit with us at our table and invite us to sit with Him at His.  He would walk with us in our day-to-day lives and invite us to walk with Him in His.  He would stand before the gates of hell and the powers of death with us, and He invites us to stand with Him agains all the powers of evil and destruction.  He is our blood-covenant God, our Redeemer, our shield, and our very great reward.

Most of us as children made a blood-covenant with a close friend: bff; your enemies are my enemies; your friends are my friends.  I will eat at your table; you will eat at mine.  We are one.  So, too, has Jesus sealed the pact in His own blood.  In the Old Testament Jewish sacrifices, the blood of goats and lambs was sprinkled both on the altar of God and on the people to signify this union.  Now, we have the blood of the God-man as testimony that God has irreversibly entered human history and will not leave us to our own devices.  He has not required our blood in return, but only that we "open the door" that He might come in and sit down at our table.

refllections on Gregory and Julian

Gregory's most characteristic message is his consideration of perpetual progress (we are where we are; we cannot be elsewhere on the road.  It is no good to worry that we are not where someone else is, for that would only hinder our journey.) 

What is important is only that, like St. Benedict, we vow each day to begin again and like Abraham, each day to build an altar where we can "check in" with the One Who leads us in the dark to we know not where.  We can know only Him Who leads us; we cannot know where we are going, nor how we will get there, nor when we will arrive.  Faith knows, as Julian of Norwich tells us again and again, that "all things and all manner of things shall be well."  And we know we shall see that for ourselves, because the One Who leads us is trustworthy.

More Gregory of Nyssa + Julian of Norwich

Somehow in my notes after Katrina, I managed to combine some of Gregory with some of Julian--I had heard stories from my colleagues of incredible suffering during and after the storm, and I was feeling pretty well off, since so many people had helped us so much.    The notes that follow do not make a distinction between Gregory and Julian, although the last paragraph is Julian's primary message.  The first three, I am sure, come from Gregory:


We are all on a journey; we cannot look at where others are along the road (i.e., to regret that we are not where they are).  We cannot compare the journeys; they are not comparable.  We are where we are; we cannot be elsewhere.  It is true that others have trials and sorrows worse than our own.  Still, we are obliged to bear the burdens of our own life.  We have not been asked to carry someone else's burdens.

Imagine if on the highway, traveling to a destination, you were to inquire about the destinations and burdens of those traveling with you along the same way.  Imagine if you worried that you were not further along the way, as other cars who traveled the same road some time ago.

When our paths cross, when we meet up with those who are also traveling, we are obliged to help them if we can , if we hear their stories.  And perhaps in hearing their stories, it will cause us to reassess our own situations and to count our blessings.  But we are not "other people;" we are ourselves with our own histories and sensibilities and graces given to us from above.  The burdens given to each of us are accompanied by the incredible grace and presence of God Himself, who accompanies us on the way.

Everything you need will be provided; only take up your burden daily and follow.  You shall see for yourself how all things and all manner of things shall be well.

Gregory of Nyssa

While in Natchez after Katrina, I found a book on Gregory of Nyssa and began reading the writing of this man, the brother of Basil the Great.  He (Gregory) gave the opening address at the Council of Constantinople, convened by the Emperor Theodosius in 381 A.D.

On the Incarnation and Resurrection, Gregory wrote:

God hid under the covering of our human nature so as to become easy bait to him who sought to exchange us for a greater prize.  And the aim was that just like a greedy fish, he would swallow the hook of divinity together with the bait of the flesh.  Thus life would come to dwell in the realm of death; light would appear in darkness and light and life would destroy all that stood against us.

Christ did not suffer death because he had been born; rather, it was because of death that He chose to be born.  He entered into our existence to restore us from [the clutches of] death to life.  He touched death itself, so that He might make of our human nature, in His own image, a principle of resurrection.  We rise from death and destruction--the gates of hell shall not prevail against us.

Sounding the Depths

It is characteristic of spiritual growth not to produce satiety, precisely because it is a continual discovery of what is new. 

The mystic is neither exclusively a freak nor a monk, but the Christian who sounds the depths of his awareness of the world and of revelation.

   ---from the jacket cover of From Glory to Glory, edited by Jean Danielon, S.J. and Herbert Musurillo, S.J.

Like the journey of Abraham, the spiritual life is a continual adventure, a day-by-day discovery of surprise and delight.  Those who attempt the journey, the awareness of what God is about in their own history, do not grow tired or disappointed, but are continually led on to new awareness and new insights.

We are all on a journey as we go through life; whether we are aware of it or not, our journeys will lead either to a jaded outlook or to new and ever-more exciting wonder.  Every day leads us either to greater integration or to more dis-integration.  We believe we do not have time for prayer, but without it, "the center does not hold," in the words of T.S. Eliot, I believe, and our worlds fall apart, "not with a bang, but with a whimper."

It does not matter how we pray; all that matters is that we begin.  As St. Augustine said, "Pray as you can, not as you can't."

The Journey

Gregory of Nyssa points out that the soul who approaches God as did Abraham, not through any pre-conceived notions or systems, but in the darkness of faith, is united with the God of the Bible and not with an abstract essence or idea.

Faith is the only way by which the soul can be united to the Transcendent.  In the journey, we leave all that is familiar and comfortable to us, all that is important and valued in our culture, and set out towards the unknown.  We know not whether we will be successful or whether we will die on the way.  We have no resources or support system but God Himself, and we are not too sure at first about whether He will indeed go with us on the way.

But in crossing the desert, we discover day by day that "our feet do not swell and our shoes do not wear out."  On the contrary, almost as soon as we realize our need for somethng, it is provided to us.  We learn to ask, and we learn dependency on God alone as our Resource.

Abraham's journey from Harran to Canaan allowed him to refuse the spoils of war offered to him by the King of Salem; the journey taught him that God Alone was his shield and his very great reward.  He could allow others to divide the rewards of earthly pursuits.

Jesus told Peter at the Last Supper that if he [Peter] did not allow Jesus to wash his feet, he [Peter] would have "no part" in Him [Jesus].  The whole point of a journey in faith is to allow God to wash our feet, feed our bodies and souls, and to become a familiar Presence and faithful Friend to us.  Jesus did not wash the feet of His disciples just to give us an example of humility, but because He always and everywhere reflected the nature of God---and what God wants of us more than anything else is for us to allow Him to wash the dust from our feet and our souls.

Let Me go with you; Let Me walk with you; Let Me share your burden, lift the load from your shoulders.  I can carry it better than you can.

Moving In

When we take possesion of and claim a space as our own, we clear away the junk left by the previous owner, re-arrange the furniture, and re-model the rooms until we are happy with everything and feel the space reflects our own taste and personality. 

Maybe we should give God the same privilege in our hearts---to make them His own living space.

Karl Rahner on Grace

had to pass this along---it's too good to keep:

Karl Rahner understands grace as gushing from the innermost heart and center of the human being and of the entire world.  God's self-communication, to Rahner, "does not take place as a special phenomenon, as one particular process apart from the rest of human life.  Raher it is quite simply the ultimate depths and the radical dimension of all that which the spiritual person experiences, achieves, and suffers in all those areas in which he achieves his own fullness, and so in his laughter and his tears, in his taking of responsibility, in his loving, living, and dying, whenever he keeps faith with the truth, breaks through his own egotism in his relationships with his neighbor, whenever he hopes against all hope, whenever he smiles and refuses to be disquieted or embittered by the folly of his everyday pursuits, whenever he is able to be silent, and whenever within this silence of the heart that evil which man has engendered against another in his heart does not develop any further into external action but rather dies within this heart as its grave----whenever, in a word, life is lived as a man would seek to live it, in such a way as to overcome his own egotism and the despair of the heart which constantly assails him.  There grace has the force of an event, because all this of its very nature...loses itself in God's silent infinity, is hidden in his absolute unconditionality of the future in the fullness of victory which in turn is God Himself."

[my reflection:]
kind of makes Emmanuel--God is with us---come alive, doesn't it?

Ask, Ask, Ask and Do not stop asking....

We come to truth not by studying or thinking, but by revelation.  Few of us could study or think long enough, deeply enough, persistently enough, to begin to approach the truth, even if it were possible to do so.  But thanks be to God, He gives His gifts to the poor and the humble, not to the sleek and the strong:  "You have not because you ask not----[Ask]* and it shall be given unto you, overflowing, without measure, pressed down, running over...."  

All we need do is ask, and what we need is ours.  The wisdom of the world cannot match the wisdom of Jesus Christ residing in the smallest of His followers.

*The Scripture actually says, "Give, and it shall be given unto you...."  I am applying the phrasing here to express what happens also when we ask....see Matthew 7 and Luke 11.

Experience

We say that experience is the best teacher, and that is because experience alone educates the mind, the heart, and the spirit all at once.  The mind cannot embrace truth without the involvement of the heart and the spirit.  "Facts" are dimly grasped unless the heart links them to meaning or universal spiritual truth. 

We will all ultimately learn what we love---those things that capture our hearts and well as our minds.  Our spirits will embrace as true those things that we love:

The person with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.

We believe only what we experience.  We may believe that another person has truly had some experience, but that experience is not our own.  This is why God had to enter human history in the person of Jesus Christ.  Unless we have a personal experience of God's love, it is almost impossible to believe that He would have anything at all to do with us.  Once we have experienced His love for ourselves, it becomes impossible to believe anything else.

Blessing and Curse

It is very clear from Scripture that our lives on this earth will be either a blessing or a curse.  Adam produced two sons---the natural man (Cain) and the godly/ spiritual man (Abel).  The natural man wars against the spiritual man and seeks to destroy him.  The natural man knows that the spiritual man is destined to take his place; he understands that should he allow the spiritual man to gain ascendency, that he himself will diminish to the point of death.  This is why Jesus, the man from heaven, was destroyed in the flesh.

Those who are not born of the Spirit believe that by killing the spiritual man, they will hold on to their realm of power.  What they do not know and cannot know is that the spiritual man is indestructible and will return in even greater power and glory once he has shed the natural man.

Jesus said to the Apostles, "You grieve now because I am going away---but I will return, and in that day, your joy will be full, and no one will rob you of your joy."
In our own lives, we see the destruction of the natural man, the man of vengence and bloodshed, the man of war and of hatred, and we rejoice at the arrival of the spiritual man, a man of blessing, created in the image of God.

The Law of God

God's truth is an anchor to our souls, our lives, keeping us from drifting without direction all over the place, crashing into levees like unchained barges, wrecking havoc and destruction on millions of people, destroying lives and flooding cities with chaos and confusion. 

Lest this image seem to be hyperbole, look at the effects of crime in New Orleans. Katrina's wreckage seems but a pale reflection of the destruction wrought on the city by violence and crime.  Drug lords, gang warfare, retaliation, brother against brother---and the innocent cry out to God for relief and peace.  There seems to be no way to stop those bent on destruction.

C.S.Lewis points out that God's law brings safety and security to those who hear and obey it.  God's law, according to Lewis, is "unassailable," rooted in the very nature of life and in the nature of God Himself:

Thy righteousness stands like the strong mountains; thy judgments are like the great deep (Ps. 36:6)

Lewis tells us that those who discover the law of God discover the delight of "having touched firmness--like the pedestrian's delight in feeling the hard road beneath his feet after a false short cut has long entangled him in muddy fields."

Lewis looks at the temptation of the Jews to embrace the pagan practices of the cultures surrounding them, but "when a Jew...looked at those worships--when he thought of sacred prostitution, sacred sodomy, and the babies thrown into the fire ofr Moloch---his own law as he turned back to it must have shone with an extraordinary radiance" (Reflections on the Psalms).

Maybe, as Lewis points out, we cannot truly appreciate the beauty, sweetness, and reasonableness of God's law until we experience living in a violent and corrupt environment which makes us cry out for the pure air of safety and peace.  Maybe the destruction wrought by Katrina was our chance to begin again on solid ground.

David, like the victims of modern-day violence, had had enough of the schemes and plots of evil men and was not afraid to cry out to God:

If only you would destroy these violent godless men who are tying to kill me...O my God, blow them away like dust, like the chaff before the wind---as a forest fire that roars across a mountain.  Chase them with your fiery storms, tempests, and tornadoes.  Utterly disgrace them until they recognize your power and name, O Lord.  Make them failures in everything they do; let them be ashamed and terrified until they learn that you alone, O Yahweh, are the God above all gods in supreme charge of all the earth (Ps. 83: 13-18 TLB) 

To those evildoers and destroyers, David offers an "alternative lifestyle:

How happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow your steps.  When they walk through the valley of weeping, it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after the rains (Ps. 84:5-6).

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the the temple of my God than to live in the palaces of the wicked.  For Yahweh God is our light and our protector.  He gives us grace and glory.  No good thing does He withhold from those who walk along His paths  (Ps. 84:10-11)

God is not deaf or blind

The Lord hears the cry of the poor, and those bowed down in spirit He saves.

If Scripture reveals anything to us about God's relationship to mankind, it is that He is attentive to us and to our cries.  Just as parents know intimately the voices of their children, just as parents are extremely sensitive to the cries of their children, so is God toward us.  He hears the sound of our voices when we cry, and He is moved with pity toward us.

God spoke to Cain:  What have you done?  A sound---your brother's blood cries out to me from the soil!  I wonder how many aborted babies have cried out from garbage cans and plastic bags; I wonder how many soldiers have cried out from ditches in Afghanistan; I wonder how many homeless have died in the streets of our cities.

God does not prevent man's violence on the earth, but He hears the ensuing cries of sorrow and grief.  When Lamekh had lived a long time and had seen mankind's deep trouble and grief, he had a son whom he named Noah/ comfort, saying, "May this one comfort our sorrow from our toil, from the pains of our hands coming from the soil, which YHWH has cursed."

The soil, the earth, is cursed because of our violence, sometimes to the point where it can no longer bear fruit.  Noah was sent by God to provide a refuge in the great destruction the earth was about to undergo.  Throughout Scripture, we find God's attention and care for those who are burdened, afflicted, cast out, rejected by society, or victims of cruelty by their fellow men.

Hagar, the Egyptian slave-woman, was cast out into the desert by Abraham and Sarah.  Sarah says to Abraham bitterly, "May YHWH see justice done between me and you!"  But what God "sees" here is the outcast, the lonely one, the one without resources or hope---the pregnant servant girl in the wilderness.  And His message to her is this:  "You will bear a son; call his name Ishmael/ God hears, for God has hearkened to your being afflicted."

Hagar, Scripture goes on to tell us, "called the name of YHWH, the one who was speaking to her: 'You God of seeing!' for she said, 'Have I actually gone on seeing here after His seeing me?' Therefore the well was called: Well of the Living One Who Sees Me."

God sees.  God hears.  God knows.

Hundreds of years after Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar, God hears the children of Israel groaning from their servitude in Egypt, "and they cried out; and their plea for help went up to God, from the servitude."  The writer of Exodus without hesitation tells us, "God hearkened to their moaning...God saw the children of Israel; God knew."

Once again, as in the days of Noah, God prepared an escape, a way out, a refuge from their distress.  On the back side of the desert was a man uniquely sent and prepared by God for his mission of deliverance/comfort to the Israelites.  God's words to Moses were these: I have seen, yes, seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt; their cry have I heard in the face of their slave drivers; indeed, I have known their sufferings!  So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of Egypt...So now, here, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.  So now, go, for I send you to Pharoah--bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt!

In Psalm 139, David, who knew first hand from his many experiences in the desert the all-seeing, all hearing providence of God, cried out his response to the God-Who-Sees-and Hears:

How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly.  I can't even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me.  And when I awake in the morning, You are still thinking about me!  Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts.  Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

It is only when we fully realize "how many times a day" God is thinking about us, as David says, that we are finally able to cry out with David, "Search me and know my heart, test my thoughts...and lead me along the way of everlasting life.

And then....and then....we ourselves can become, like Noah, a comfort and like Moses, a deliverer, for people in anguish and toil.

The Immaculate Conception

Mary brought forth the Divine Word first in hidden obscurity; He entered the world in a Bethlehem cave, revealed only to shepherds in fields nearby at first.  But, amazingly, God was at the same time drawing wise men from the east to the hidden cave, revealing to them something Mary could and would not have spoken.

At the wedding of Cana, however, Mary brought Him forth publicly, giving birth to His public ministry.  Knowing Who He was, she brought forth His Divinity as she had His humanity, by yielding to the Holy Spirit, Who revealed to her the time and season.  Jesus, recognizing in her the spirit of obedience to God, honored her plea.

Her first "yes" to God brought forth her Son; her second yielding to the Spirit released Him for the purpose and plan of God for the world.  She who had been given a great gift allowed that Gift to be given to the world.  He from that time on would no longer be "hers," but ours.

In us, too, the Word of God takes flesh, not only for our own comfort and salvation, but for the world in which we live.  We must allow the Spirit to form in us the Christ, and we must also listen for the Spirit's directive to release Him for those who "have no wine." 

sacred space

When God began creating the heavens and the earth, He began by "making space" for all the wonderful things to come.  First came the light, the energy of life.  On the second day, He created the sky and the sea, followed by the dry land on the third day. 

The fourth, fifth, and sixth days were devoted to filling the empty spaces with corresponding blessings: 

1.  light                               4.  sun, moon, stars
2.  sea and sky                    5.  birds and fish
3.  dry land/ vegetation      6.  animals / humans

It follows that if we want anything to happen in our lives, we must first "make space" for it to happen.  Physically, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually--nothing can enter our lives until we have made space for it.  If we want to paint, we must find a corner where painting can occur; if we want to pray, our first step is to find our "sacred space" where prayer can happen---a chair, our bed, the front porch, or our favorite tree.

The important thing is to have access daily to our sacred space, with tools nearby to help us---a bible, a journal, inspirational reading, a window, etc.  At first, it may be that nothing happens in the sacred space; we feel we are just wasting time.  But soon, if we persevere, our bodies, minds, and souls will begin to recognize the space as a place of prayer.  If we stay there for fifteen minutes a day at first, something will begin to happen in that sacred space:  our bodies will relax; our minds soften and slow down, and the soul, the spirit in us will tentatively emerge into a place of safety. 

We may find ourselves thinking of all the things we have to do---and get frustrated, thinking we are being distracted from praying.  But it may be that the Holy Spirit is guiding us into getting our lives in order, reminding us of what is important.  It helps to have a notebook nearby where we can jot down the ideas that come to us, so that once again our minds may be free and open to receive whatever blessings will come to us at that moment.

Carving out space and time for God each day is absolutely necessary for a relationship with Him.  Believing in Him is not as important as allowing Him access to us on a daily basis.  He has His arms full of blessings, but there is often no space in our lives for Him to put them down.

weak and foolish

God uses the weak and foolish things of this world to confound the strong and powerful

Mother Teresa is one of the best modern examples of the truth of this scripture.  Standing about 4'10", with 5 rupees in her pocket, she left the security of her convent and teaching job to go out in faith on the streets of Calcutta and pick up the sick and dying.  How could she have the courage to do such a thing?

Her eyes were not fixed, as are ours, on her insufficiency, but on the power of God to use the weakest instruments to accomplish His work.  Paul said, "I glory in my infirmities, for when I am weak, Christ is strong in me."  Paul was looking at the crucified man who was entirely submitted to God's plan.  And this submission is not beyond our reach also.  Those of us who have no hope of doing anything at all for God because we see the reality of our lives---unfaithful, chaotic, inconstant, incapable of sustaining initiative or momentum---can commend  the whole mess into His hands, as did Jesus on the cross.

Therese of Lisieux, who was Mother Teresa's patron and role model, acknowledged that she could not climb "the rough stairway of perfection," but like a helpless child, had to stand at the first step and lift her arms to Jesus.  And Jesus, like a tender mother, descended the stairway to carry the child to her desired goal.

Perhaps our greatest obstacle is not our weakness, but our refusal to trust God.

Karl Rahner on Christmas

A friend sent me Karl Rahner's reflections on Christmas, some of which may take years to absorb.  However, some hit home right away; those are the ones I'd like to share:

Have the courage to be alone.  Only when you have really achieved that, when you have done it in a Christian way, can you hope to present a Christmas heart, that is, a gentle, patient, courageous, delicately affectionate heart, to those whom you are striving to love.  That gift is the real Christmas-tree gift; otherwise all other presents are merely futile expense which can be indulged in at any time.

Rahner's words remind me of a wonderful book called Stopping, a book which I have either given or lent to dozens of people over the years, a book which I plan to re-read myself this Christmas.  The author, Dr. David Kundtz, quotes poets a lot because he says "they are  always looking at life." 

He quotes Rainer Maria Rilke saying, "I am the rest between two notes," and he quotes Walt Whitman saying, "I loafe and invite my soul."  Teilhard De Chardin says, "the whole of life lies in the verb seeing."

When we stop "between notes" and invite our souls, in Whitman's words, we begin to see, to see what cannot be seen without stopping, or "loafing."  Rahner encourages us, when we are alone, not to talk to ourselves or to others the way we do even when they are not there.  He advises us not to accuse ourselves, or to praise ourselves, but only to wait, without expecting any unusual experience.  What we hear is usually silence, and he wants us to bear with the silence without fleeing to the "religious symbols or concepts which can kill religion."

He wants us to believe that in the silence, God is close to us just as we are at that moment, eternity descending into our emptiness.  This is the high festival of Christmas, according to Rahner:  we can quietly and with faith accept the silence, the incomprehensibility, our lack of understanding as measureless, merciful presence.

If we can accept ourselves in this way, he says, we can experience the peace promised to men of good will.

On Being "Good"

The question is often asked, "Can't I be a good person without going to church?" And the answer is, "Certainly.  The Pharisees were good people in the natural sense.  They obeyed the law; they tithed; they gave to the poor and followed the rituals of their faith.  But their hearts were far from God, instead focused on the good things they were doing." 

Of course, the Pharisees also attended Temple services, so one could argue that the question does not apply.  But the question assumes that "being good" is the point of going to church.  The church-goer, the obeyer of the law, needs a relationship with God every bit as much as the sinner or the non-church goer.  The aim is not to "be good;"  the aim is friendship with God, Who Alone is the Source of all good.

If His love and guidance is not the source of our "being good," our best actions often produce mixed results.  It is wonderful to do good in the world, but it is even better to allow God access to the human condition through us.  Only the Holy Spirit knows what should be done in any given circumstance---there is no "formula" except prayer and freedom in Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, as Jesus demonstrated, it is better to break the law in favor of mercy and compassion.  But unless we are attuned to God's direction in each circumstance, unless our hearts are open to hear His voice at each moment, we are most likely not to do what He would have us do. 

Learning to listen to that inner Voice, for most of us, means being trained in the ways of God by listening together with the community of believers.  We cannot be sure we are really hearing the voice of God within until it has been affirmed over and over again through the community of those who are listening too.  So church, then, is a place where our spiritual gifts can grow, a place where we can be blessed by others and where we ourselves can learn to be a blessing to them.

A Sense of Adventure

Do we dare to allow God to have His way in our lives?  Do we dare allow Him to fulfill His dreams for us?  Each one of us was created for some specific purpose, but until we allow God to lead us on the journey, as He did Abraham, that purpose will not be fulfilled.

Until God speaks, we are, as Augustine says, in chaos, unformed, and unfit/ unordered towards the fulfillment of God's plan.  But the entrance of His word forms us, making us fit for what we were created to do.  We are not all trees, nor all flowers, nor all flowing water---never mind what our neighbor looks like: that is not what we are supposed to look like.

Let us not be afraid to ask for the desires of our heart, but let us also be open to hear the desires of God's heart for us.  We may be surprised to learn that His desires far exceed anything we can ask or imagine.  The adventure and delight lie in allowing God to fulfill His dream in us:  Thy kingdom come; thy will be done.  What a great adventure, to watch it happen!

Let us carve out a small portion of the earth where God is given permission to act as He wills on our behalf.  Let us invite our friends and neighbors to the place where God is free to act on their behalf.  Let us not shut out anyone by our refusal to welcome them into the house, the field, where God is free to bless them through us.

The Gift of God

To be led by the Spirit of God is to be led by love, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and truth.  How can we not desire to be led by God?  How can we desire anything else the world has to offer?

The "Gift of the Father" Jesus spoke about is the Gift of His own Spirit to us.

The Gift of the Spirit is knowledge of Jesus--the Word of God.

The Gift of Jesus is knowledge of the Father, and the Father gives the Gift of His Spirit to those brought to Him by the Son. 

So we are brought into the very family of the Trinity to enjoy the dynamism of eternal life.

Let us not stop asking for the Gift of the Father given to us in His Son, Who is the embodiment of God wholly united with man.