I’d create the world again…
I have shared a bit with you about my journey back to faith. It made good sense that there was a God — that was never a stumbling block for me. But I suppose I didn't understand what kind of God He was. A stumbling block for me was why God desired our praise…
Throughout Scripture, we read about praising God; on Palm Sunday, we read of the crowds praising Jesus, waving palms and laying them at His feet as He entered Jerusalem. (Palms were used to symbolize victory and peace.) I understood that those who encountered Jesus during His earthly life would praise Him this way, but why now?
I would wonder, if God really is all mighty, what could He possibly gain from my praise? Why does He need something from insignificant me? Or, on the flip side, I would think, God needs my praise because He is looking for a pat on the back. Then, I would question all I knew about humility and the heart of a God with an ego.
Oh, the lies we spin…
I asked God for an answer, and He gave it to me in the most beautiful and simplest of ways. Here is what happened:
In the quiet hours of the night one evening, as I pondered the question of why God wants our praise, I sat with Fiona, who collapsed in my arms. She was tired from a long day of being five years old. As I brushed her hair back, I told her I loved her, like I had thousands of times before. While she always responds, she was a bit more intentional this time. She sat up, looked me square in the face, and said, " I love you too, Mama. My heart swells just typing this.
Not long after, Mia sat on the couch, finishing up a good cry about the injustices of second grade and the impossible rules of "clean your room" and "brush your teeth." With her head in my lap, through a heavy but content sigh, she said, I love you, Mama.
Twice in one day? Oh, this gift of parenthood.
As I sat in prayer, I thought about the evening. I thought about my children's love for me. I don't need them to say I love you, but when they did, my heart sang. In those intimate moments where we share our heart's deepest utterances, we do so not because we have to but because we want to. Because with that small I love you, that small gift of praise, they offer up so much. Their words are rooted in gratitude; thank you for being my mom. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for making me feel loved. Thank you for being the lap I can always rest in and the arm I can always wipe my tears with. In those moments, they have learned to reach beyond themselves and into the heart of another. The surrender of gratitude is always easier in the humility of smallness.
God then reminded me of something beautiful He said to St. Theresa of Avila and that He wanted to say to me; He said, I'd create the universe again just to hear you say I love you.
Has your heart stopped? Mine did…. I'd create the universe again just to hear you say I love you. Do you hear Him saying that to you? Because He is. He delights in your love. Delights…
And then, just as strongly as I didn't know, I did know. As a daughter of our heavenly Father, I praise Him because I love Him. Because my heart moves in a desire to be closer to His. Praise is an act of the will, a movement of humility that looks beyond ourselves and gazes onto another. We are created to be in relationship with another, to give of ourselves, and to receive the other in a union of body and soul. When we praise God, we step to His throne and bear our hearts in the vulnerability of being loved, we look Him square in the eye, and we tell Him, I love you, too.
This is it, my friends. It took a long time for me to understand praising God as a movement of the heart. But when I did, I did. It's the key of gratitude, happiness, joy…life, to be able to look beyond yourself, to gaze at another, and to love them. God delights in being loved by you. Praise Him today and remember that He would create the universe again, just to hear you say I love you.
Continue to Pray, Grow, and Serve with your children as we enter into Holy Week. Don’t forget our Stations of the Cross Series - You can download all 14 beautiful Stations of the Cross here.
