We begin a new year. How can it be a turning point in our lives? There are two possibilities. A person can out of a small heart (paranoia) always be afraid of what will happen next in life and how he or she will be treated, maybe recalling a childhood with parents who were less than perfect. This stance can make it difficult to trust others in relationships. There is a bit of paranoia in most of us.
There is another way to live. We can live with a big heart. We are able to see life as God sees it, with the sun shining down on everybody, both the good and the bad. In Luke’s gospel we have the story of the generous father who loved both of his sons. The younger son asks for his inheritance, leaves home, and spends his money on loose living. The older son lives in anger when the younger son returns home and is forgiven. God calls us to live out a big heart (metanoia). God wants us to have a compassionate heart. When Scripture has Jesus saying, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” this is what he means. Thomas Merton experienced God as mercy upon mercy upon mercy: we are called to love all of God’s creation with a big heart.
- Do you find yourself thinking with a small heart of distrust?
- Are you able to forgive others with a big heart the way God forgives you?
- Are you open to change (metanoia) living out of a big heart?
O God, in this new year help me develop a big heart.