Continuing his reflection on creation as a place for experiencing the presence of God, Eugene quotes Proverbs 8:31 about God “at play everywhere on his earth, delighting to be with the children of men.”
And the Christian, going deeper, emerges from this kind of ravishment to yield himself to sentiments of love and thanksgiving, at the thought of this All Powerful God
who created all these marvels, playfully, ludens in orbe terrarum,
who draws near to man, who is confounded and lost at the mere contemplation of the least of his works,
to speak with him, instruct, direct him, join himself to him in the intimacy of the most amazing love,
to dissolve him as it were in his being,
and lift him up to share his glory.
Oh God, Oh God, and for the most part men live without thinking of this!
Then Eugene rejoices because the aim of his ministry was to bring youth and others to this awareness of God and to live in communion with God – and Adolphe Tavernier and many others of the Youth Congregation had understood this reality.
Adolf, my Adolf, let us bless the Lord for giving us a heart able to understand and especially to perceive him.
Letter to Adolphe Tavernier, 12 October 1819, O.W. XV n.151
“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” Albert Einstein
Reading this fills me with joy – it is somehow a shared joy with Eugene, with God and with all of us, all of creation. This is the Eugene that I first met when an Oblate showed me Eugene’s first letter to Henri Tempier, inviting him to join with Eugene at the foot of the cross. This is the love that God fills us with, which Eugene allowed to overflow and be shared with all who would have the courage to allow themselves to be touched by it.
I read each line and ponder in awe and wonder and joy, for although not expressed in the same words as those in my heart, they are of the same language and while Eugene speaks of play I get caught up in the dance. I am touched and moved almost to tears, tears of joy and gratitude and truth. This dance of love!
“….to dissolve him as it were in his being, and lift him up to share his glory. Oh God, Oh God…”. This is the part which takes courage, for we/I become forever changed. I must let go of the ego, let go of myself (which of course always keep trying to come back and so must let go again and again). It is as if on a journey and coming to a fork I have chosen the one labelled ‘becoming love’. It takes courage to walk that road, however the invitation is so incredibly alluring that it is the only direction possible. After a little while I cannot turn back – why would I want to?
“Then Eugene rejoices because the aim of his ministry was to bring youth and others to this awareness of God and to live in communion with God …”. This I pondered and thanked God for. It has been in journeying with the Oblates, working with them and becoming an Associate that I have become so very alive. I have found myself where I belong, in the midst of this huge family that Eugene founded and is father to. And so in becoming more fully aware of God and living in communion with God and others I am filled with zeal and overflowing love that allows me to try to live out the charism of Eugene and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
Frank I thank you for this particular writing. There is so much in here that I will want to come back to it again and again.