Libertas
Soul Snack 183/11 ... Libertas
I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell.
Steve Katz sang the above refrain in 1971 as a lyric in the song And When I Die on the album Blood, Sweat and Tears 4. (The song was far more imaginative than the album title.) In this song Katz echoed a hollow life which voiced a generational anthem of confusion that still lives well today.
Confusion has not escaped Christ's followers either. Many unloved who hear that they are loved believe they are unworthy of such love. Katz was perplexed about eternity while others still are in turmoil about themselves.
Brennan Manning spoke to this confusion when he wrote:
When we freely assent to the mystery of our belovedness and accept our core identity as Abba's child, we slowly gain autonomy form controlling relationships. We become inner-directed rather than outer-determined.#
The confusion that comes to the Christian un-fathered and/or un-mothered is that they don't know love, feel unworthy of being loved and can't grasp that there is the Father who does love them no matter what - yet they hear this repeatedly from a pulpit or read it over and over in books or their Bible.
The cry from The Cross of Love is to accept even if you don't understand it or can't feel it.
Yep, as with Steve Katz we may live with confusion but unlike Katz we can hold to this soul-releasing truth -
Love is the livery of Christ ~ Charles Spurgeon.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (Jn 8:32)
#p102 The Rabbi's Heartbeat - Brennan Manning Pub = NavPress, Colorado Springs 2003