Gratitude

"God, it seems to me, is a Verb."

--Source Unknown

 

We, it seems to me, want to make God a Noun -- a Proper Noun, to be sure, with a capital letter, out of respect, but a Noun, nevertheless.  But He is not a Noun, that is, a Name that defines, that stands for something we know and understand, for something that can be boxed in and identified.  His Name is Yahweh:  I AM.

 

The bible is not only a record of God's unexpected action in history, but also a revelation of what He is doing now, at this moment, in our history.  What God "did," He "does."  He is the God of the living, not of the dead.  If we look to the Law, to the letter of the Law, and to our obedience, for righteousness, we are dead men; we must be at every moment "quickened" by the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, if we would know righteousness.  The word "quickened" has somewhat fallen out of use in modern English, but it is still a useful idea -- to raise up, to give life and movement, to move within.  There is nothing static, stale, stagnant about this concept.  "Quickened" water is not a pond, but a river of life; it is the "living" water which Jesus promised to all who come to Him.

 

I have a friend who says often, "When I feel the Spirit 'a-movin,' I feel afraid."  Of course, those are the words of an old Negro spiritual, but they express beautifully the quote above:  "God, it seems, to me, is a Verb."  He moves, He pulsates, He is not 'asleep,' but awake and aware and active.  Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is "living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  We would like to think of the Word of God as dead, as non-moving and non-active, something we can take or leave, or interpret as we will, according to our own intelligence and insight.  But the Word of God is a breathing, living, Person -- it judges us and interprets us, not the other way around.  We should be afraid when we feel the Spirit of God moving in us, around us, and through us, for we are sinful men, in the words of St. Peter.

 

But the fear is for a moment, until the Word speaks to us as it always does:  Be not afraid!  I have come to heal and to save, not to judge and destroy (cf. John 3:16).  The Word of God, Who is Jesus Christ, has come to reveal to us the face of a Father, One Who loves us beyond measure and Who knows how to speak to us and to deliver us from evil.  The poetry of Chiara Lubich, Founder of the Focolare,* is a powerful example of the living movement of the Spirit in us and toward us and for us:

 

Gratitude

 

I love you

not because I learned to tell you so,

not because my heart suggests these words to me,

not so much because faith

makes me believe that you are love,

not even for the sole reason that

you died for me.

 

I love you

because you entered into my life

more than the air in my lungs,

more than the blood in my veins.

You entered

where no one could enter

when no one could help me

every single time no one

could console me.

 

Each day I have spoken to you.

Each hour I have looked to you

and in your face

I read the answer,

in your words

the explanation,

in your love

the solution.

I love you

because for so many years

you have lived with me

and I

have lived of You.

I drank from your law

and I did not realize it.

 

I nourished myself on it,

gathered strength,

I was restored,

but I was unaware

like a child suckling at its mother's breast

but not yet knowing how to call her

with that sweet name. 

 

Let me be grateful

---at least a little---

in the time that is left to me

for the love

you have poured upon me

and that has compelled me

to tell you:

I love you.

 

How can we tell others of what God has done for us, in us, through us?  His breathing action must be in each one of us before we can know Him as "Verb," or action, rather than as "Noun," or Name. 

 

(*Focolare is a movement that includes people of all ages, races, and vocations who promote unity, reconciliation, and the spirit of love.)