As we move along through the rite of Welcome of Inquirers and continue to trace crosses and speak words of vision and hope over our bodies, we end the week with a focus on our hearts.
The simple verse spoken to people participating in this rite is: Receive the cross on your heart, that God may dwell there by faith.
At the very center of who we are is the one who would not have the world be what it is without us. The heart is not the center of emotion. It is the center of our will. It is the driving life force that is meant to convey meaning and purpose. When we say that the word of God that comes to us in many ways "cuts us to the heart," it touches us at the very core of who we are and is therefore a word that can cause us to change direction because our vital center becomes under the rule of the God who is wholly for us. Trust that this is so. Trust that as you remember the cross that was traced on our foreheads at our baptism. We are a people whose only hope is the God who claims us as God's own...and what a hope that is! In all times and places and in all decisions about the path of life we will take, the God who loves us without end - abides with us. As we trust that reality and that life presence, our lives become open to the expansiveness of the life God hands over to us. We are invited to will one thing - to hold in our hearts the one who longs to abide there and be for us the beginning and ending of all things.
Connection: There are so many ways when we "feel" distant from God or that God is not anywhere to be see. Well, the truth is that God has already made a home with us and will not leave. That is not based on our feelings, it is based on a promise. From deep within the very depths of our lives, we are invited today to trust that we are not alone nor will we be left without a way to live through this day.
Come, O God of Creation, and assure us of your presence and your power for new life even when we cannot feel that presence or even when life seems old and overwhelming. Be for us the spring of fresh water that is able to satisfy us when we are faced with days that have nothing to sooth our souls. Amen.
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