Meditation ~ Giving All to Receive All

The gospel of Christ is filled with many paradoxes, perhaps the most fundamental being "give all to receive all," or "lose your life to find it."

The sacrament of matrimony--and our nuptial union with God ultimately--puts this mysterious exchange on display.

We have all seen couples who live under the same roof, share the same bed, have children, go on vacations together, etc. and yet are not meaningfully "one flesh." Insofar as either or both parties "withhold" love by trying to maintain a sinful measure of control or independence, they remain separate...two persons, not one. The mysterious Biblical image of "one flesh" is not achieved.

In order for the two to become one, they must make a radical gift of self to the other. Apart from sacrifice, vulnerability, and interdependence, no meaningful mutuality is achieved. Yet, unless they go "all in," there is no real love. The couple can only be disappointed by the lack of intimacy.

The same is true in our relationship with God. We must go "all in" to commune with him fully. We are to go "all in" with him even more totally than with our spouses, for we are created for Him in the total and absolute sense. While it is God's will that we give our spouses a huge part of ourselves, it is His will that we give Him all of ourselves.

As long as we hold back, our souls will remain existentially single and lonely.