A Christmas Pause: Love

What if savoring the spirit of Christmas meant immersing yourself in the boundless love that God offers through the gift of Jesus? Pause, breathe, and be with God as you savor God's love this season. 

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:02

Hi, merry Christmas. This is Whitney and you're listening to Exploring Peace Meditations. I hope you'll pause with me today to savor God's love this season, take a few moments and begin to find a posture in which you can simply be. You might choose to be in a seated meditation or a reclined resting posture. You might take a shape, a yoga shape, but allow yourself to simply be, to be, to be, to breathe as you settle. I'll remind you that you can find more podcasts, prayers and meditations at exploringpeacecom, and you can find my books, of which this meditation is inspired from one of them Fully Human, fully Divine, at WhitneyRSimpsoncom. I hope by now you've found a shape, a posture, softened your gaze and your breath.

Speaker 1 1:21

Listen to Psalm 143, 8. Listen to Psalm 143, 8. Tell me about your faithful love. God's faithful love arrives at Christmas in the shape of a baby Jesus. Jesus, god's gift of faithful love is delivered to us in the form of a baby named Jesus. As you hold the word love in your mind and in your heart, I want to invite you to ponder god's love for you, if you haven't already.

Speaker 1 2:29

Take a purposeful, full, deep inhalation and a nice long exhalation. I'd like to invite you to breathe fully and deeply as I invite you into a memory. Chances are you have held a baby at some point in your life. That child you held could not comprehend the love that you had for them, and yet your love was likely present nonetheless. Your love might have been deep, like a grandparent or an aunt or a first-time dad. Your love might have been precious as you gazed at a sweet baby's toes or fingers that you didn't even personally know, but you felt love and care and compassion for the child. God loves you. Whether or not you can comprehend that love, whether or not you can comprehend that love, take a moment and savor God's love in the quiet. I invite you to simply breathe in and out the word love. If it helps you remain present. You can see that word in your mind's eye or imagine holding it in your hands, inhaling love, exhaling love. Thank you.

Speaker 1 5:35

Love is the heart of Christmas. God's love is not something we can earn or achieve. God's love is not something we can earn or achieve. God's love is freely given. Now, bring your hands to your heart space. Feel the beat of your very heart. Give thanks that God loved us enough to send Jesus on this earth, breathing just like us, living with a heartbeat just like us. Let yourself be fully embraced by God's divine love, a love that knows no bounds, a love that accepts you exactly as you are. Savor God's love.

Speaker 1 6:39

Loving God, thank you for the gift of Jesus and for the great and wonderful reminder of your love for us as we celebrate this Christmas season. May your love fill our hearts and overflow into our lives. Teach us to be bearers of love in a world that deeply needs it. Help us savor your love for ourselves and share it with those around us. In your holy name, we pray Amen. May you live in God's love this week In all you do. May you savor it, know it, feel it and sense it. Thank you for exploring the gift of God's peace with me. Until next time, may God's peace and love be with you.