Come Home

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.

Even Now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart.

Even now,
Even now--- when you've been hiding from me for months,
Even now ---when you avoid me like I'm the plague...
I want you back.

Return
Return to me
Return to me with your heart
Return to me with your whole heart.

Return to me where you belong- where you are home. Return to me ---so you can stop feeling so frantic, so torn, so baffled, so alone, so dazed, so numb, so scared.

The above are excerpts from an Ash Wednesday reflection inspired by the prophet Joel. I read it several times every Lent. Doesn't it sound wonderful? Wouldn't it be great if we could let go of the frantic, baffled, lonely, and scared parts of ourselves?

Return to God. See ourselves as God sees us. Accept our flaws and our insecurities, our fears and our struggles as part of what makes us unique and special. God sees right through those parts of us; God sees the talents, the strengths, the gifts, the joy, the goodness, and the hope. God sees the whole package--where we so often (or at least I so often) focus on the mistakes, the missteps, the failures.

Even now, with all your human frailties, with all your dark & twisty, scary & damaged parts, come home. See yourself as I see you. Feel loved because you are loved. I've been waiting.