mama mondays: God of the living

As a cradle Catholic, I’ve gotten to the point at which I feel like I’ve heard every Scripture passage at least a couple times, many of them much more. This is a good thing! But Sunday morning, the first reading from the Book of Wisdom jumped out as something new to my ears, or at least my memory.

Here it is, from 1:13-15, 2:23-24…

“God did not make death,
destruction of the living.
For he fashioned all things that they might have being;
and the creatures of the world are wholesome,
and there is not a destructive drug among them
nor any domain of the netherworld on earth,
for justice is undying.
For God formed man to be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made him.
But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world,
and they who belong to his company experience it.”

The word of the Lord…  

I was struck, first, by the realization that God did not create everything, after all, for He did not create death.

To me, this is a most beautiful thought; pure and refreshing to the ears. This is Truth! This is love. This weekend it brought me a sense of peace and assurance in my prolife convictions.

They who belong to the company of the devil experience death. Not as easy on the ears but important nonetheless.

Whose company do you belong to? I know in whose company I want to belong, this day and forever. Therefore I will move my life along that path — the path of the living God.

Our God is not a god of the dead but the God of the living. This should give every living person a renewed sense of purpose.

Everyone counts. Life matters. Each breath we breathe is intended by God.

How can we not rejoice with the purple clematis, which seems to reach up to the heavens in celebration of its very existence? If a simple flower can sense the path of life, all the more important, it seems to me, that we do whatever we can to pursue it above all else. And then, once we find it, move accordingly, doing whatever we can not to stray.

Q4U: What reminds you most of the preciousness of life?