Friday, January 09, 2009

Just because we are


This morning as I was driving in to work I was thinking about my dogs, Georgie and Edgar, and how they must just sleep all day while I'm at work. I wondered what they think about, whether they talk to each other, what their inner days look like. From that thought I wandered into a sense of grateful appreciation for their presence--they add so much to my life!

Thinking of how much I value them and how much richness and love they add to our home, it occurred to me that I don't expect them to "do" anything in order to earn my love. Oh, sure, please don't pee on the carpet, Edgar. But overall, they don't have to work; they don't have to perform tasks; I simply love them for their presence, because they are.

If we are capable of that kind of love and appreciation for our fellow beings just because they are, is it such a stretch to think that what God loves most about us is not the amount of effort we expend in being Good (or how successful we may or may not be) but rather the fact of our being, that we are companions in this life, that we share this sacred moment and recognize and appreciate what we have? Sometimes I get these little glimpses and think this life of faith is probably much easier than I make it. Walk in the garden with God today. Or snore contentedly, sleeping in God's arms. Or muse about what you'll have for lunch with a glance toward the Divine, knowing that all Good is ours just because we are and because of whose we are.

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