"Because of you..."

"Because of you
there's a song in my heart..."

I was thinking today of all the times when I have felt as if someone's presence in my life, made a day, an hour, a moment sing.  My daughters, our son, my husband, our mothers, sisters, brothers...their spouses, my nieces, nephews, my girlfriends, my guy friends, my four-legged, and winged friends,  the folks who bless me with their calls and visits...you all have made me feel like, "because of you, there's a song in my heart..."

Don't you just love this Tony Bennett and k.d. lang version of such a beautiful classic?  I do.  I love it because of the collaboration it represents.  I love it because it speaks of how a common love for music erases generational lines and brings two people together to bless countless others.

I thought about writing this piece about "Because of You," from the vantage point of the "You" being God.  And of course, in the deepest sense, this is the only "You," in my spiritual life.   But, I believe, there is a collaborative paradox at work here. It would seem that in plumbing the depths of my relationship with God, and my knowing of Him, I must look within, to the "I AM" of being. And the only way I can discover the changeless nature of God, as Love, is to probe the strength of an unconditional, illimitable capacity to love in myself. And to do that, I need you. I need the canvas of our relationship, to discover that the "I AM" of Love really is all that I believe it to be...fathomless, burdenless, empowering.

So, it makes sense to me, as the Bible says, that,

"God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten son..."

God gave us Jesus, so that we would know Him...God.  Mary Baker Eddy urges us to understand that:

"Jesus was the highest human
       concept of the perfect man."

And as "the great Exemplar," his humanity, helped us to understand the breadth of our own divine possibilities, and potential...as mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, neighbors, global citizens, and friends.  In fact, Eddy further avers:

"The divinity of the Christ was made
       manifest in the humanity of Jesus."

and that:

"Through the magnitude of his human life,
he demonstrated the divine Life.
Out of the amplitude of his pure affection, he defined Love."

You are the face of divinity, outlined as humanity, in my life.  Each of you...through the humanity of your compassion-based understanding, your kindness, your forgivenenss, your grace your humor, your generosity of spirit...has given me a window on the nature, character, heart, and voice of God.   And I feel so deeply blessed.

It is not in the words you have spoken, but the way you have said them.  It is not in the things you have done, but how you have done them.  It is not in the things you have given, but the heartbeat...a rhythm just below the more obvious melody of your giving...that has taught me the verity of Eddy's statement:

"Love alone is Life."

Your hugs, phone calls, visits, notes, emails...prayers, have allowed me to feel the embrace of God. And it is this feeling, more than any words -- including the most sacred Scriptures -- that have shown me the living Christ...right here, right now.   You make a difference in my life...every day.

thank you...
Kate
Kate Robertson, CS