{"id":23406,"date":"2024-02-13T11:05:27","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T16:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=23406"},"modified":"2024-02-13T11:22:18","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T16:22:18","slug":"23406","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=23406","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jesus Culture - Set A Fire (Official Lyric Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lZiqgrtNT6s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Love: The Fire of Transformation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Scientist and theologian Ilia Delio presents images of fire to describe God\u2019s presence in her life:&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a Franciscan <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">on the edge of religious life, <\/span><\/strong>my experience of human love and divine love revealed to me a deep passion of life at the heart of life, a passion that enkindled my heart; in truth, I wanted to love God without measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Love is a fire of transformation that <strong>constantly needs wood to keep the fire alive<\/strong>. Real fire is destructive; throw yourself into a fire and you will be destroyed. <strong>God\u2019s fire is destructive too because it can swiftly eliminate all self-illusions, grandiose ideas, ego-inflation, and self-centeredness. Throw yourself into the spiritual fire of divine love and everything you grasp for yourself will be destroyed until there is nothing left but the pure truth of yourself. <\/strong>[1] \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deep within the cave of my heart, a depth that belongs to me alone, I recognize a fire that burns brilliantly and glows with warmth. Through that glowing fire I see the outline of a face, the face of Christ, but I also see my face, and then I begin to see Christ\u2019s face as my face. Sometimes I cannot tell Christ\u2019s face from my own face, and all at once I recognize a single face whose eyes are looking inward and outward. The word \u201cGod\u201d simply doesn\u2019t capture this infinite depth of my soul that stretches toward an endless horizon. By its sheer unlimited being I know it must be divine life, because it is life other than my own and yet entangled with my own life. [2]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Delio witnesses the fire in her heart as<strong> a universal invitation for each of us to be transformed:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every human life is the cosmos winding its way into the future. Every life makes a difference to the life of the whole. I have come to know that<strong> the fire in my heart is the fire in the heart of the universe and that its flames will not be extinguished. <\/strong>This <strong>fire will destroy that which is not God and forge what is God into an ever-radiant new presence of God because God is forever being born within us.<\/strong> In this life, at this moment, I allow all that has shaped my life to be summed up in this seamless mysterious breath of life.<strong> I let go over and over again and jump into the lap of God\u2019s loving embrace. Every moment I am falling in love with God. For God knows me in a deep way, a way that I still hardly know myself<\/strong>; and it is this endless inscrutable depth where love burns brightly that I learn to trust my thoughts, my words, my actions\u2026.<strong> I have a mission because every person has a mission\u2014to be the truth of who they are so that God can be God in them. The path to truth demands patience and trust, and this path is an open road within every human heart. <\/strong>[3]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"167\" src=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-1-500x167.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23408\" srcset=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-1-500x167.png 500w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-1-300x100.png 300w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-1.png 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>FEB 13, 2024<br><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Loss &amp; Laughter<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"auto\" height=\"15\" src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/87188c8737bc50c1a2fb8e2c9\/images\/b66516eb-1f2d-8d90-0e02-d4223f78f6f7.png\"><br><\/span><\/strong><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"auto\" height=\"35\" src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/87188c8737bc50c1a2fb8e2c9\/images\/b66516eb-1f2d-8d90-0e02-d4223f78f6f7.png\">Van Gogh\u2019s painting of a large Bible open to Isaiah 53, the prophetic chapter about the Messiah\u2019s suffering, and a small French novel by Emile Zola,\u00a0<em>The Joy of Living<\/em>, appears to be a contrast between tradition and modernity. In fact, Vincent saw Zola\u2019s novel about the sacrificial love of a mistreated servant girl as a contemporary retelling of Jesus\u2019 self-sacrifice. Far from a rejection of faith, the painting was van Gogh\u2019s way of showing how the example of Christ\u2019s love can still be found in the world today.But the painting also celebrates a central paradox of Christian faith\u2014that through experiencing loss the servant of God actually discovers a greater joy. The final sentence in\u00a0<em>The Joy of Living<\/em>\u00a0reads, \u201cShe had stripped herself of everything but happiness rang out in her clear laugh.\u201d Likewise, Isaiah 53 vividly describes the sorrow and suffering of Jesus, but van Gogh understood that on the other side of his suffering was elation. This, according to the writer of Hebrews, is why Jesus accepted his destiny. He endured the cross, despising the shame, \u201cfor the joy that was set before him\u201d (Hebrews 12:2). Even as Jesus was betrayed, humiliated, and tortured, somehow he remained focused on the glory that awaited him. He knew he would be exalted to the right hand of the Father and given the name above all names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"414\" src=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-500x414.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23407\" srcset=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-500x414.png 500w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-300x249.png 300w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image.png 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br>During Holy Week we rightly focus on the suffering and humiliation of Jesus, but we must not overlook what the Bible clearly says motivated Jesus. He persevered through it all because he knew a greater delight awaited him. Jesus accepted suffering not because he suppressed his desires but because he sought to\u00a0<em>maximize<\/em>\u00a0them. This week is about sorrow, yes, but it is a sorrow pregnant with joy. That\u2019s a paradox Vincent learned from studying Scripture, recognized in French literature, and one he would hold to throughout his life.After being dismissed as a missionary and losing his dream of becoming a pastor, van Gogh described the painful season to his brother in a letter: \u201cAs molting time\u2014when they change their feathers\u2014is for birds, so adversity or misfortune is the difficult time for us human beings. One can stay in it\u2014in that time of molting\u2014one can also emerge renewed.\u201d Vincent recognized that suffering was not an abnormality to be avoided, but a part of God\u2019s grace to be accepted. It\u2019s how transformation happens and new life is created. Like Jesus, it\u2019s when we surrender our immediate desires for comfort, safety, or acceptance that we discover the secret to attaining our\u00a0<em>ultimate<\/em>\u00a0desire\u2014union with God himself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Love: The Fire of Transformation Scientist and theologian Ilia Delio presents images of fire to describe God\u2019s presence in her life:&nbsp; As a Franciscan on the edge of religious life, my experience of human love and divine love revealed to me a deep passion of life at the heart of life, a passion that enkindled [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23406"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23406"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23412,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23406\/revisions\/23412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}