A while back I read Albert Nolan’s, “Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom.” In the book Nolan had a quote taken from the Koran. When I read, “God is as close to a man as his jugular vein.” I knew at once I was face to face with truth. I can’t prove such an assertion, but it squares with my experience of God in my life. As a child and young man and even now there are times when I think of God and distance in different terms. I tend to think that God is in heaven and I’m here. When I live like that it’s hard to imagine or conceive of the presence of God as an ever active concern in my life. In Luke’s Gospel we read, “The kingdom of God is within you.” This seems to mirror the thinking by the Sufis.
Today, December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I am celebrating my 54th birthday. The longer I live the more I realize the presence of God in my life. There are many things I’ve thought of in the last few days as I prepare to mark this milestone with my family. I’m grateful to have the gift of life and I intend to celebrate that gift. All life is precious and sacred. I’m grateful to be a Franciscan. I’m grateful to my parents and to all the people who have formed and shaped my life. Tonight I’m also thinking of Micah 6:8, “what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” Help me to walk humbly and to know that you are closer to me than my jugular vein. Peace.
Happy Birthday! May God’s love shine on you and your family today.
Happy Birthday, Don. God Bless.
God is both immanent (as close as out jugulars) and transcendent.