Last week, I mentioned the Collects, those beautiful prayers which are also helpful and uplifting guides to meditation. On page 367 in the Book of Alternative Services, you will find a Collect which comes from the mind and thinking of that great North African saint and scholar, Augustine of Hippo (not to be confused with St. Augustine of Canterbury). Let us start with the first part Almighty God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you. There are two thoughts here. First God Made us for Himself. What does that mean? We have been told from earliest childhood that God loves us; more than that, God is love. You cannot love in a vacuum, you need someone to love. Dare we say, God needed us? These thoughts are overwhelming and take time and prayer before moving on to the second thought which stems from it. That is "our hearts are restless, until they find their rest in you". In the start of this Collect, we address God as Almighty. It reflects the fact that the one who is all powerful is also love itself. He made us, that he might love us.
May we now turn to Genesis 1: 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God, he created them. It is not just God who is love. He made us in his image. Many people particularly those starting to face life, declare they are on a road to discover themselves. That will happen when they discover God. In him, they will find satisfaction and peace. There is one among the many great gifts he has given without which our love would be null and void. We will think about this next week.
I will leave you with a prayer which St. Paul gave us in his Epistle to the Ephesisans 3:16. I pray that according to the riches of his Glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
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