We live in a finite world with finite resources. Oil will someday run out and we have to find alternative sources of energy. The forest cover of the world is thinning out and could very well disappear if we do not replace the trees we have cut down. Even my body and physical abilities are limited and subject to increasing degradation as I age. And yet, we live as though we are limitless beings. Man has insatiable needs and wants. He literally wants the moon and the stars. For example, businesses are adverse to the concept of putting limits to their growth. The markets reacts very negatively whenever actual growth is below projected growth.
One of the deepest longings of man is to love and be loved. And we all yearn for total and unconditional love. But our capacity to love is limited by our finiteness. Our capacity to receive love is likewise limited by our finite nature. God’s love for us is infinite but our capacity to receive and understand it is limited. Saint Paul, reflecting on our relationship with God, shared with us that now we see imperfectly as in a reflection and we understand only in parts.
A good starting point in appreciating this truth is that God has chosen me and has made the first move. I sometimes believe and feel, I chose God first. But it was God who chose me. I did nothing to deserve to be alive and yet he called me out of nothingness into existence. I had very simple dreams as a child and yet I am always amazed when I look back at my life and everything that has happened in it: the people he has blessed me with, the events that have brought me great joy and happiness, the graces and blessing she continually pours on me and my loved ones everyday. The fact that I am writing this now is a testament to his continued and continuing presence in my life.
Really, my God is an awesome God and there is no other than He.
“You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”
John 15:9-17