I want to unfold.
Let no place in me hold itself closed, for where I am closed, I am false.
I want to stay clear in your sight.
Rainer Maria Rilke, The Book of Hours
What keeps us from the intimacy and flourishing that God intended?
A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all people. We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong. When those needs are not met, we don’t function as we were meant to. We break. We fall apart. We numb. We ache. We hurt others. We get sick. - Brené Brown
We hide, creating a way of being and moving through the world in order to secure love, in order to belong, in order to find our place and fit in. In creating this False Self, we sacrifice our heart for the sake of not feeling unloved.
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! - Genesis 1:31
In Genesis 2, God tells us the story of creating man and woman in his image, blessing them, and giving them a lush garden in which to flourish. It was good - God even said it was ‘very good.’ He created us to live intimately with Him, to walk with Him, experience His love, goodness; to know Him.
