(written in 2005)
"Why do you embrace us?"
"It's because I want to help you when
you feel troubled."
Just imagine that somebody comes to you and talks to you as follows: Don't worry. Do not be afraid. I will walk with you. I'll take care of it. I embrace you just as you are with limitations and weaknesses. Be transparent. Be little. Be happy and joyful. I'm alive. I'm your companion. I walk ahead of you. I carry you.
If somebody talks directly to us like that, it would be very consoling and inspiring to hear. Whether you have faith in God or not, the ultimate being is present in us. You may name that presence the Lord, God, Buddha, the transcendental being, or Jesus Christ.
It's good to have a dialogue with that presence as well as the people around you. Talking to somebody deepens the relationship and lets us understand and love others as they are. It's regardless of talking with Jesus. When we pray, walk, cook and work, we can have a talk with him. The contents of dialogue can be praising, giving thanks, asking for something, interceding for others, opening the inner self, and sharing daily lives.
Some of us enjoy talking to flowers, plants, and animals. It has been proved that flowers grow faster when we face and greet them with warm-hearted and cheerful love. Even the water responds to our sensitivity. It is the same with the Lord.
Some people feel and experience the presence of the Lord among us. We can actually feel inside that he presents himself among people in silence, in the Gospels, in nature, and in daily events. He lives now and seeks a personal relationship with those who believe in him. The joy of unity in divine love brings inner peace and comfort. The Lord keeps saying, "Don't be afraid. You are mine. Don't worry at all."
Nicole Gausseron, a French woman, shares her meeting with Jesus in "The Little Notebook: The Journal of a Contemporary Woman's Encounters With Jesus". This book has recently been translated and published into Korean under the title "Don't be afraid. You are mine” by Pauline.
In 1981, Nicole Gausseron founded a community for the homeless in Chartres and named it "Compagnons du Partage," which means companions in sharing. She started on a shoestring budget and struggled to keep it going.
Her family was rich, and she was well-educated. She held a degree in British literature and had taught before her marriage to Philippe Gausseron. She followed her husband, who was the president of Secours Catholique, a national charitable organization looking after the poor. She was in her late thirties when she started the community for the homeless. Both of them are responsible and serious with their lives, especially regarding the poor. They are also attuned to warm friendships and the joy of living together with those in need.
She felt the poor not only need a meal but a place to live and work as well. When she established the community with the help of friends and supporters, some people came to stay for a while. They usually stayed for about three months and left. Nevertheless, Jesus loves all people unconditionally, in spite of personal depravity and failures.
When Pierre, a worker priest came there, the community could reserve the Holy Sacrament in a chapel. Nicole then began a new relationship with Jesus. Especially during the celebration of the Eucharist or praying before the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus revealed his presence as a living person and shared the burdens and joys of life as a very close friend. From 1985 to 1991, she recorded the inner dialogue with Jesus in her little notebook, "petite cahier."
Truly, experiencing the presence of God goes hand in hand with deeply personal and willing service to the poor. In 1 John 3:17, it says "How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?" Nicole's experience of an intensely personal relationship with Jesus is grounded in her direct and loving contact with people in need.
"Love is a space. It's an ample space that leaves the other free. Free to develop, to go away, to draw close. The essential thing is to be linked with one another."
The Korea Times/ Thoughts of the Times/ Feb. 21, 2005
No comments:
Post a Comment