My last post garnered some wonderful comments, and they reminded me of the beloved author of one of my favorite books: Madeleine L'Engle and A Ring of Endless Light. The main character in the book is a girl named Vicky Austin, and she writes poetry. Now, of course, poetry can be pure drivel, especially when written by the young (and yes, I penned more than my fair share of absolutely atrocious poems when I was young...), but Vicky has the advantage of being a character written by Ms L'Engle.
One of the poems Vicky writes and reads to her dying grandfather has the phrase "all replete with very me" which I -obviously - remember to this day. At this time, I can't find her actual poem, but my search led me to two poems by real people who provided inspiration for this book.
First is the inspiration for the title of the book - a poem by Henry Vaughn:
I saw Eternity the other night
Like a great Ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright,
And round beneath it,
Time is hours, days, years
Driven by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov'd, in which the world
And all her train were hurl'd;
A ring of endless light - eternity. How beautiful an image! A simmering, peaceful luminosity stretching out forever and ever. What a glorious future we could have in our eternal home, if we would only turn to our Father and accept His grace and love.
But we are often too focused on temporal things of lesser value, which leads to the second poem by Sir Thomas Browne which is the inspiration for the phrase "all replete with very me" -
If thou could'st empty all thyself of self,
Like to a shell dishabited,
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf,
And say, "This is not dead,"
And fill thee with Himself instead.
But thou are all replete with very thou
And hast such shrewd activity,
That when He comes He says, "This is enow
Unto itself - 'twere better let it be,
It is so small and full, there is no room for Me."
We are so often replete with ourselves. We are self-focused, self-involved, self-satisfied, self-absorbed. We fill our lives with people imortant to us, issues important to us, activities important to us... We forget that we ourselves are not eternal, we are here today and gone tomorrow -
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
I would much prefer that God finds me "disinhabited," so that He can fill me with Himself. But, I am still so filled to bursting with "very me" that I wonder if there is even a tiny niche open and available for Him!
And yet, God is still there. Even when we are so full of ourselves that there seems to be no room for Him, the Hound of Heaven comes in to our lives and offers His grace and mercy and purpose - and love! Like a gentle mist falling on a parched land, He rains on us until we slowly - oh, so slowly! - begin to open and grow. Slowly, we begin to have an inkling of an idea that, if we move aside, He will flood us with Himself. His Spirit will come to live in us to seal us unto eternity and to give us His power and His assurance
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours
So slowly our doors creak open, the windows of our souls are cracked ajar, and we creep out of the dark poverty of our selfishness. We tentatively take hold of His offered hand... And God catches us and comes in in a torrant of love..
I am confounded when people, confronted with this infinite love, who reject the mercy and grace that are offered so freely and so generously. The pain and sacrifice endured by Jesus wasn't something He had to do - it was something He wanted to do! Our Savior
who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus looked ahead to the JOY of His children being with Him for eternity. He looked ahead to the JOY of our voices raised in praise and thanksgiving for the incredible gift He won for us. He looked ahead to the JOY of the final triumph of good over evil, and the eternity of righteousness and beauty without sin.
How can we not desire to empty ourselves of US, and let Him come in and fill us with His love?! The glorious, eternal, and joyful love of God. THAT kind of love:
Happiness in view
Please let it be true
How I've waited in line
Longing for a love
To come hold this heart of mine
Promises unkept
Boundaries overstepped
Left alone with the hurt
Feeling like my life
Couldn't feel much worse
CHORUS
Then I saw the way You saw Me
As my heart let You come in
And I know I felt You hold me
When You told me I could live
Safe in Your arms
That's what I want
That kind of love
Love that will not leave
Use me or deceive
One I know I can trust
Love that will not bring me down
And always builds me up
Love that knows my soul
Shows me where to go
When all I see is a cloud
How could this exist as I stood there
In my doubt
REPEAT CHORUS
BRIDGE
You opened my soul
With what I'd never known
At a time when I was so so alone
REPEAT CHORUS
I am so tired of being all "replete with very me." I want that kind of love. Don't you?
So let's empty ourselves of ourselves and invite the Lord of Life, the Lord of Light, into our souls. Let Him fill us up with His love and His power and His joy. Let us drink from the Fountain of Living Water, and shower the blessings of His salvation on a weary, discouraged, and dying world.
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