Tuesday, December 12

“What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God!”

I believe God is love and that love is THE transforming agent of our lives. How do we release the power of this love? More than give it lip service, we have to actually accept it and then let it loose in our hearts.

In his essay “You are Accepted,” the 20th century theologian Paul Tillich wrote, “Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted! If that happens to us, we experience grace,” and we are transformed.

In 1985, Sally Fields won her second Oscar for the drama Places in the Heart. Blinded by a flashing red light alerting her to conclude her speech, Fields blurted out, “The first time [receiving an Oscar] I didn’t feel it, but this time I feel it—and I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you really like me.”

Tillich might call this a moment when “a wave of lightness breaks into our darkness.” Sally Fields said later that her career had been riddled with personal and professional setbacks and she had learned to suppress her emotions to get by. But that night, at the Academy Awards, something inside of her broke. Was dismantled. She allowed herself to feel, to accept, the admiration of her peers.

This Christmas season, I pray we allow a “wave of lightness” to break into our hearts and wash over our anxious spirits. I pray we open up and accept wholeheartedly God’s gift of love so that it fills our hearts to overflowing, spilling over and flowing back into the world in radical generosity. We are accepted, my friends. Believe it!