embrace

A physical action of holding someone tightly as an expression of comfort or affection. And a spiritual act of opening your heart to receive, accept and give love. We are called to embrace each other as freely as God loves us.

When I embrace you, I say: I see you, I feel you, and I love you just as you are and just as God loves you. To truly embrace someone is to accept someone’s virtues and flaws and offer our presence, comfort, and acknowledgement. To truly embrace someone is to see the person in a new way. We can embrace with a hug, a handshake, a smile, kind eyes, and with our presence.

Embracing others invites us to contemplate the most intimate gesture of love that God offers: a holding that unites, heals, and transforms. This divine gesture is one way that God’s grace works through our life and the life of others. It teaches us to become more like Him, and more like the children that Jesus speaks of whose pure heart embodies God’s boundless love and mercy.

Dear God, 

Thank you for all the opportunities to love and  heal that you give me every day. It is through your embrace that I know what true love is. Help me remember this every day, especially when I am feeling overwhelmed and tired. Help me see you in my neighbor, in my children, in my co-workers. I pray that I always remember that it is through you and in You that we can be truly healed and forgiven. Amen.

How have you felt God’s embrace today?