In the incarnation, God, like a good mother or father, is more concerned that his children are steered in the right direction than that he himself\u00a0 be explicitly recognized and acknowledged for who he is and thanked for it. God, like any parent, takes a huge risk in having children. To have children is to leave yourself painfully vulnerable. It\u2019s also to be called upon for an understanding, a patience, and a self-dethroning that, literally, can empty you of self. That\u2019s as true of God as of any mother or father.<\/p>\n
To \u201cself-empty\u201d in the way Jesus is described as doing means being present without demanding that your presence be recognized and its importance acknowledged; it means giving without demanding that your generosity be reciprocated; it means being invitational rather than threatening, healthily solicitous rather than nagging or coercive; it means being vulnerable and helpless, unable to protect yourself against the pain of being taken for granted or rejected; it means living in a great patience that doesn\u2019t demand intervention, divine or human, when things don\u2019t unfold according to your will; it means letting God be God and others be themselves without either having to submit to your wishes or your timetable.<\/p>\n
Not an easy thing at all, that\u2019s why we\u2019ve sung Jesus\u2019 praises for two thousand years for doing it, but that\u2019s the invitation.<\/p>\n
To read more click here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Kenosis of God In the incarnation, God, like a good mother or father, is more concerned that his children are steered in the right direction than that he himself\u00a0 be explicitly recognized and acknowledged for who he is and … Continue reading