After writing my post on spiritual freedom, I mused on the end line of the “Principle and Foundation.” Gerard Hughes paraphrases it like this:
“our one dominating desire and fundamental choice must be to live in love in his presence.”
This desire comes from the centre of my being and is irresistible. And yet so often, I am not free enough from the ‘prison of my false self’ that I can ‘live in love in his presence.’ Freedom has a context. We begin to discover our deepest desire, which leads to the process of becoming freer to respond to God, when we become aware of the nature of his love.
Reading the Vatican news, this line, from an address by the Holy Father jumped out at me:
“God never tires of reaching out to man;”
God is proactive in his love for us. He reaches out and never gives up on us. A member of our family, reading her bible a couple of days ago asked “Why are there songs about lovers in the Bible?” (I was a bit surprised that she had started reading with the Song of Songs!) My reply was that the songs of lovers teach us about God’s love:
All night long on my bed
I looked for the one my heart loves;
I looked for him but did not find him.
I will get up now and go about the city,
through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves. Song of Songs 3:1-2
You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart Song of Songs 4:9
Our freedom begins when we encounter God’s never-tiring, never ending love for us. As the Holy Father said every life is a love story. In finding ourselves loved we become free.