This I Believe

This I believe:

1. God is. Nothing else really matters.
2. God is love. He is the trinity of Lover, Love, Beloved in neverending exchange.
3. The logic of love is creation~the sharing of love.
4. The gap between humanity and God demanded redemption. The continued gap calls out for salvation.
5. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him, not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it...  And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

 I accept the formulation of the Nicene creed, and I choose to be a submissive daughter of the Roman Catholic church, never blind to its greed, sins, and administrative blunders, but joyful in its life in the Spirit, the beauty of its traditions, and the communion of its saints.

The Inner Light

 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
                                                                             1John:1:5

I've been reading about Quakers for my most recent book, and I have become enamored with the concept of inner light.

As a Roman Catholic, I value the structure of the church around me. In spite of eras of weak leadership, worldly popes, and/or men corrupted by power (and lack women's influence), having a center has generally kept us from splintering and from wandering into the extreme fringes of religious practice. Over the long haul of history, we get pulled back to center. Visionaries enrich the church; fanatics lead us over the cliff. Only time (and God's own judgment) sorts the wheat from the chaff.

That said, I've always believed each individual needed to listen to the work of the Holy Spirit in them, calling them to l rest in God as they go about their daily work. On days I remember to listen, my life goes well and my writing does too. On days I don't, I go to bed irritable, frustrated, and quarrelsome. What is that if not the inner light?

I trust the work of the Spirit in myself and those I love. I also view with caution the tendency of each of us to let ego and our need for control mistake "inner light" for "my desire." The only cure for that is humility and that, my friends is a life-long battle. Having the discipline of church, even if we don't always like what it says, helps with that.