We must go out into a desert of some kind (your backyard will do) and come into a personal experience of the awesome love of God. Then, we will nod in knowing agreement with that gifted English mystic Julian of Norwich: “The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.” We shall understand why, as Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament notes, that in the last years of his life on the island of Patmos, the apostle John wrote, and wrote with magnificent monotony, of the love of Jesus Christ. As if for the first time, we shall grasp what Paul meant: “Where sin abounded, grace has more abounded; and so, just as sin reigned wherever there was death, so grace will reign to bring eternal life thanks to the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20-21)
- Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, copyright 1990, 2000, page 37
