Journey of the Heart / Jennifer Burger

Make an effort this Lenten season to be fully open to God’s embrace

As a new grandma back in the world of “baby care,” I am amazed at all of the new gadgets there are out there for little ones and their families!

I’ve also been introduced to some new terms, one of which is “contact nap,” which is exactly as it sounds—napping on someone as opposed to in a crib. This is nothing new when it comes to practice, I just didn’t know it had an official name!

I enjoy these contact naps and look forward to this closeness with my granddaughter. Although I am mindful that she needs to learn how to sleep on her own, there have been times when this is the better way to give her the rest she needs, especially when she is congested and has an ear infection and being upright helps alleviate some of her pain and discomfort.

Such was the case a couple of weeks ago. Although not inconsolable, she was more “clingy” and restless than usual, and as she started to exhibit the telltale signs of rubbing her eyes and big yawns, I knew what the next hour or so would entail.

I gathered her up in my arms and she immediately took to my embrace, but she was not yet ready to settle into her much-needed rest. I held her close as we walked in a rhythm around the room.

At first, she was distracted by the things around her—and I was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to fall asleep—but it didn’t take long before I could feel her body relax and her head gradually rest on me.

Holding her so close, I felt one with her, her heart bound to my heart. A deep love was enkindled, and a greater awareness grew in me of my desire for this kind of intimacy with God, to be one with him, in his arms and heart to heart, a sacred time together.

We all need this kind of rest in God. We long for this sometimes without knowing it. Some telltale signs of this desire are when we find ourselves grasping for or clinging to what can quickly provide comfort or meaning, when what we need most is simply to return and be with God.

It is good to be reminded of what Jesuit Father Thomas H. Green tells us in Opening to God: “Our effort is secondary to the work of God in our encounter with him. … This depends almost entirely on God’s grace and is always God’s initiative.”

Infants cannot lift themselves into the arms of their caregiver; they depend on someone to do that for them.

And so it is as we encounter God. He is always reaching out and pursuing us. It is up to us to make the effort to be fully open to his embrace. We must remove the distractions—externally and internally—and find the rhythm of God that beats in our hearts. This allows us to be held and rest in him. It takes time and patience and may take a little bit of practice, but God always has time for and is patient with us.

We are given this time during Lent to return to God. During these 40 days, we are making ourselves more available for God. In our penance and fasting, we are removing the distractions and desires that separate us from God. We are adopting a rhythm of life and prayer that quiets our hearts and minds to hear his voice.

In this rest, we learn more deeply of God’s love and mercy as we make contact with his beating heart in the life of Jesus. Let us open our arms to his embrace!
 

(Jennifer Burger is a spiritual director and a member of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis.) †