Читать книгу Recital of Love - Keren Dibbens-Wyatt - Страница 9

INTRODUCTION

PEOPLE SOMETIMES REACT AS IF IT WERE strange that God still speaks to us. But why should one Beloved not speak to another? For what could be more natural than that my Creator should speak to my heart, or yours to your own? What could be more expected than that the Word might continue to express himself, as he has done since time dawned by his command?

Do not be alarmed, dear reader, for I do not claim any special relationship with God, nor do I insist that what is contained in this tiny offering plate of a book are locutions, for they were not given dramatically, but softly in the heart of silent prayer. Nor are the words set down here holy; this is not in any way Scripture, and where there is anything that you feel detours from that dear and beloved book, please stick with the Bible.

I am simply receiving and putting wordy flesh on the bones of thoughts that come unbidden in that place of prayerful openness, as mystics are wont to do. I believe all of this is given by God for sharing, but I acknowledge my own capacity for error and foolishness at the same time. Discernment is vital and must be driven by the Holy Spirit.

After each offering, I have placed the Hebrew word selah, which is found mostly in the book of Psalms. It is traditionally held to mean an instruction to pause and reflect, and I feel that it is good to do just this—to stop and savour what we have just read before carrying on—exactly as we might take a moment between mouthfuls of rich food.

Sometimes I refer to God using traditional terms such as Lord, Father, or using male pronouns, sometimes with a female image such as a mother. These are just a matter of convenience, as, of course, the Trinity both encompasses and exceeds all our ideas and definitions of gender and relationship. Please do not let my narrow use of these terms make you feel excluded from hearing that beloved voice.

Likewise, be assured that God never shows us things to condemn us, but rather to help us see more clearly how we might love him, ourselves, and others better. If he speaks to us of hardness of heart, for instance, it is to gift us with an opportunity to come to him and soften.

I give you this small book then, as a voice calling in the wilderness that few visit, and my only claim for it is that these words are dear to my heart as from my Beloved, and kept like love letters to remind me of what love speaks, and to keep that desire aflame.