Left to Tell.
God is in our very souls and is nearer to us that we are to ourselves. Many of the times I have felt the breath of God on my face have been when I am alone with God. It is in these “alone times” that I have met a God who I knew in the most intimate ways; a God who is my loving Father and closest companion.
A relationship with God is like any other relationship, it deepens when we spend time together and sharing the most intimate parts of ourselves. Like most any other deeply loving relationship, after a while words become unnecessary, for there is comfort in the awareness of each other’s presence.
“I have a capacity in my soul for taking in God entirely. I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and presence of God.” Meister Eckhart
I just completed the book, Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza. It is the triumphant story of her journey through the darkness of genocide in 1994. It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God.
She tells how she came to understand God and her relationship to God while locked in a tiny bathroom for ninety days with six other women. Although she was with there women most of the time they could not talk. Reading Eckhart’s sermon on the Kingdom of God tonight reminded me of her description of her experience of God. The God is who lives in very soul and is closer to her than she is herself.
It's a page turner.
2 Comments:
Sounds like a great book. You may also be interested in this short doc nominated this year for an oscar:
http://www.godsleepsinrwanda.com/
Very powerful film of a country being transformed by women; a large majority of the poluplation left following the war. Great stories of faith and hope amidst such tragedy.
I'll put this on my list. I remember my pastor's wife announcing to us once Sunday that the Lord told her to go to Rwanda and help those babies. It was around 1994. She, her husband and another guy went over and it inspired them go start Safe Harbor Ministries which works mostly in Sudan. They've adopted two Sudanese girls in addition to their own three daughters. The stories, like those you probably read in this book, are extraordinary.
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