April 2 - Pouring Out

The cloistered monastic is on a course to discover two things day by day. First, all that can be known of God, and secondly, all that must be known of the heart that would live in His Presence.

God is love, and love beckons to us, calls us, to enter into lives of loving, living fellowship. There are many times when we want to be loved much more than we want to learn love, but with God, those two events are not mutually exclusive. The better we know Him the deeper our trust and love for Him; the more we love Him, the more certain we will pursue that relationship that begins and ends in the depths of His love.

We often want proofs and independence more than obedience and trust; God wants love to prove reality. If we love Him, we will obey His commands. (John 14:15 With Him it is always, “Go ahead and love!”

So we take our three minutes, our six minutes or more, each day, and we open them up and pour them out upon the Lord, our Love. Soon, we won't have to count minutes! This will never be that which we do instead of loving others. Ours is a dual command: we love God and we love our neighbors as ourselves. We know that God receives our love when we love others. He told us so. When we visit the sick and those in prison, when we clothe the naked and feed the hungry and open our doors to those in need, the Lord receives those kindnesses as though we had done them for Him. (Matthew 25:24-46)

Monastics put themselves where they must keep learning and keep loving; they lock themselves into a devotional marriage, and many become sweet and strong in the outworking of that commitment. Here in Cor Unum, the walls around our lives are plenty strong enough to help us “learn of Him.” We may bring Him pleasure just where we are, doing just what we should be doing, if we will only keep the law that is written on our hearts.

For us, a vital aspect of that law is that the Sovereign God, reigning on high, is worthy of our worship. We love one another; we worship God. We pour out kindness and we pour out worship, and we are filled with joy here in Cor Unum, this monastery of the heart.


"Overflow"
Abbatial Photocoun