Shifting Your Gaze

Just these two words He spoke
changed my life.
"Enjoy me."
What a burden I thought I was to carry--
a crucifix, as did He.
Love once said to me, "I know a song,
would you like to hear it?"
And laughter came from every brick in the street
and from every pore in the sky.
After a night of prayer,
He changed my life when He sang,
"Enjoy me."

Teresa of Avila
 

At the heart of the universe is a circle of love. A relationship of ever giving and receiving, moving in and out of one another without defense or demand. Interpenetration even. What a sexy word! I’m speaking, of course, of the Trinity. As my study and experience of this dynamic and abundant love affair grew, the center of the Christian story began to shift. 
 
Beforehand, a sin-as-the-center of the story swirled about my narrative all the time: Why God was mad. Why Jesus came and died. How I manage my and others’ offenses. Sin as the hub. Living from that story was exhausting and filled with shame. 
 
I exist to love and be loved by the Trinity. With relationship at the heart, I sensed an invitation to freedom, creativity, and abundance. No longer was I on a “sin hunt” forever demoralized by my own failures. Instead, I am on a “love hunt”—how can I keep step with this beautiful, dancing circle of affection and delight?
 
Does this mean I’m soft on sin? Resoundingly no! I have tasted and seen its devastation. I rely by faith on the Son of God (Galatians 5:20). By shifting my gaze from missing the mark to experiencing their presence expands my soul. Somehow my longing for the Trinity’s presence also dissuades me from sin. What a magnificent mystery!
 
What would happen if you shifted your gaze from your sin to the soft embrace of the Trinity?

JUDY