Let Your God Love You

A Reflection by Christine Jurisich

Let Your God Love You 

This title of a poem by Edwina Gately is the inspiration for one of my favorite prayer practices. I repeat it often throughout my day. It serves as both a reminder to be gentle with myself, a tool to realign my center with God, and to experience the gentleness of God. Let’s reflect through each word.  

Let. Give yourself permission to stop proving, perfecting, and pleasing. Do you feel you are working hard to have a relationship with God? Surrender to an experience that will happen in God’s time. Be open to a gentle invitation to rest and take refuge in God’s comfort.  

Your God. Do you feel distracted by all the chatter outside of you, telling you who your God is for you? You. A person with your own set of life experiences, your own personality, and your own roots, pain, joy, and desires. Listen to the God who is right within your being—the God who speaks uniquely to you and is the very ground of your being. Recognize how you have your own experience of God. And be okay with how different it may be from another person’s experience. 

Love You. Open your heart. To love. To kindness. To mercy. To grace. Allow this endless flow of love to be an ever-present invitation. To forgive. To heal. To let go. Are you open to the goodness of God? Recognize love in the most ordinary moments of your day. Make it a habit to name and give thanks for them.  

A Nurturing Reminder 

When I am outside in the sun, I feel the warmth of the rays and the warmth of God’s love. Christine, let your God love you. 

If someone gives me a hug, a thank you, or a compliment, I intentionally pause and take in the sentiment. Christine, let your God love you. 

As I start my day and begin to look anxiously at my list of things to do, I relax and lower my expectations. Christine, let your God love you. 

In my morning prayer time, I sit with my journal, and nurturing reminders start to flow from my pen. Christine, let your God love you. 

Permission to Be Still 

Adopting this mantra as a prayer practice, I experience the gentleness of God. The restless urge to do more and be more settles down. I ask myself, “What am I called to do or simply be in this moment?” In the morning, I will ask myself, “How can you let your God love you in this list?” I breathe out the question and breathe in the answer. I breathe out the restlessness and my need to please, perform, and produce. I breathe in mercy and my openness to God in the here and now. The question brings clarity on my priorities for the day. Sometimes the answer is taking a walk. Other times, it is crossing off self-imposed deadlines that can wait. 

An Invitation to Pray 

I invite you to try this mantra as one of your prayer practices. Pray the phrase with the wholeness of your heart. Use it as a chant, a journal prompt, a conversation with God, a song of gratitude, a desperate cry out for relief, a reminder to find joy in a simple act. Let this mantra be your breath prayer for peace. 

Encouraging Words to Share 

Share these words with someone who needs them. Offer them to a friend who is being hard on herself. Write them in a card to a person who feels alone. Recite the words as you hold in prayer a broken relationship. Pray them when you witness a stranger acting angry or rude. Meditate with them as you hold the picture of a family member in pain. 

Imagine the beauty, creativity, forgiveness, intimacy, and mercy that can happen when you let your God love you. It is as simple and challenging and beautiful and daring as that. 

Let Your God Love You

by Edwina Gateley

Be silent.
Be still.
Alone.
Empty.
Before your God.
Say nothing.
Ask nothing.
Be silent.
Be still.
Let your God look upon you.
That is all.
God knows.
God understands.
God loves you
With an enormous love,
And only wants
To look upon you
With that love.
Quiet.
Still.
Be.

Let your God—
Love you.

Blessings on your journey towards letting your god love you.

Listen to this reflection on our YouTube channel

Share in a Sacred Circle

The second full week of the month, we offer three drop-in Sacred Circles on Zoom and two in person. It is a chance to share the monthly reflection in a safe and welcoming environment. You never have to share more than you want to share. Look for an invitation with the Zoom link on the Monday of the week’s sessions. Learn more here.

Share Right Here*

How may you, “let your God love you?” Is there something about this prayer practice that inspires you to experience the gentleness of God?