Satisfy My Soul

Every morning I ask God to love me, and I tell Him how much I love Him. I want to know the deep and abiding love of my Creator, so that my soul can be satisfied, and so that I can then be free to love others. How can we love others when our own souls are so hungry and unfulfilled? Our love would be selfish and grasping rather than generous and giving. It would be all about our need and our lack and we would never be able to truly give of ourselves because we would always be wanting from others only what God can give us - truly unconditional love and acceptance, and a deep sense of who we really are and our place in this world.

When we have found that love in God we can place Him in the centre of our lives and from a place of peace and contentment we can reach out to others with a genuine and generous love, knowing that even if we are not loved in return, even if we are hated or reviled, even if we should perish, God Himself is at work in and through our lives. What greater place is there to exist in and live from than the very love of God Himself, He who sustains the universe, and also satisfies my soul? Every morning I ask God to love me, and to satisfy my soul with His pure and unchanging love. Every morning I thank Him for the gift of life, for His love, and the privilege to live for Him.

If my soul is satisfied then the rest of me can learn to fall in line. In ordering things rightly, in allowing the soul to lead guided by the Spirit of God Himself, we will find our bodies, minds, intellects and wills following suit. All can and will be guided by God if we surrender to Him. One of my favourite prayers by St Ignatius of Loyola is "Take and Receive" :

"Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and thy grace, for this is sufficient for me."

At my 30 day retreat in Sydney, many days were spent contemplating the love of God, and responding to His unending love and the many gifts He continues to pour into my life. This prayer is a very natural response to a loving God who has held back nothing, given of Himself, given even His own Self, and continues to give through all of time... what better response is there to a loving God than to give all that I am back to Him? Everything is gift, and I love the Giver more than the gifts, I am happy to return everything to Him. Take all that I am, receive everything of me, only give me your love and your grace. I need nothing else. My soul is satisfied, God, in You.

Thanks for reading,

Pav