Worth the Wait

Our God is intensely gracious, slow to anger, rich in love.
God's good to all, compassionate to the extreme; no one, not one single creature, is left out...
Psalm 145:8-9

No one's left out of God's circle of attentive love. But it doesn't always feel that way. The love is flowing out to all, to every living thing, but we aren't all receiving it 24/7. We're far better at blocking it out than we are at absorbing that love's full potential. And there's so much going on around us that either enhances our receptiveness of God's care... or works to cut us off entirely.

But the truth is: No one is left out. All are plugged into that energy source that is God, that is love. And the question we can ask ourselves is: In each word we say, each action we take, are we helping someone know of that powerful love, or perhaps obscuring the view?

As you may know (especially if you read the last post on this blog), I've been part of a group of people hosting 5 teenagers from a boys' boarding home in Palestine, visiting our country and getting a break from the often-prison-like life of their normal world. They and their families are cut off from so many of the opportunities we take for granted. Just leaving their village to go to the neighboring city can be a nightmare of frightening and frustrating checkpoints, with soldiers' guns pointed at you and suspicious eyes making you feel lower than a cockroach. It's awful. That's life in an occupied country. It shouldn't be that way, but it is.

Not everyone has given up hope that someday life will be better. So many of the Palestinians I've talked to say that their hope is still alive. Hope is all we have, they say, so how can we give it up? My fervent hope is that in some small way, our hosting of these boys has put them in the free-flow of God's dignifying love.

For those of you who read my last post: Yes, our weary travellers did finally fly into Logan, late morning on Friday. And has it ever been worth the wait! It's been so amazing, so far beyond my expectations, to see 5 scared and hesitant and exhausted kids gradually open up... and soon they were having the time of their lives! The highpoint for me was sitting in a group of about 30 who'd gathered for a barbecue at our church, playing a cardgame called Spoons, laughing hilariously at this crazy game which easily crossed our language barriers. Talk about free-flowing joy! It was incredible. No one was left out, no one cut off. The spirit of God's overflowing abundance was abundantly tangible!

What a privilege it can be to serve as God's emissary, to help open up the blocked flow, to release the joys of soaking in God's love.

Thank you, thank you, Living God, for soaking us with your refreshing love. Open my eyes today to see someone who needs a bit of hope, someone who thinks they've been left out of all that is good, of all that is you. And when I need reminding, when I'm feeling left out, help me to know which way to turn so I can be back in that flow again.

(If you'd like to read a bit more about our visitors from Palestine, the Union Leader wrote an excellent article about the first leg of their trip: http://theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Nashua+program+gives+a+respite+from+tensions+at+home&articleId=7c546710-f5a1-4f06-b943-9a046e6ded3e)

~Kari Henkelmann Keyl