wilderness love

i was spurred on by my dear sally friendship this week... something about knowing, being in, talking about the wilderness.. (actually, the holy spirit moved on my spirit through my amiga....) frederick buechner writes on love in the book, 'a room called remember'.. amazing writer!
i am reading a book about wilderness now, so it was truly cool to read once again the words of buechner... i first read this sermon in the book, 'secrets in the dark/a life in sermons', last fall..
i thought i had not read it, for some reason, when i spoke to my friend.. i went home and saw that i had, and man! i had underlined a lot!!
i was inspired to re-read it and remember.. so grateful i did.. thanks sally! :-)
here are some passages that speak so well, i think:

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (he quotes the scripture)
................hear, o Israel! only more often than not we hear nothing because we live in a wilderness where more often than not there is nothing of god to hear. and of course it was in just such a wilderness that the great words of moses were trumpeted forth in the first place, and the people who first heard them were in the wilderness with him, as wandering and lost as we are, with nothing to keep them going but the hope of a promised land, which much of the time seemed a promise so remote and improbable that even the bondage they had left behind them in Egypt looked hopeful by comparison. ....................even in the wilderness-especially in the wilderness-you shall love him.
.....................the final secret, i think, is this: that the words "you shall love the lord your god" become in the end less a command than a promise. and the promise is that, yes, on the weary feet of faith and fragile wings of hope, we will come to love him at last as from the first he has loved us-loved us even in the wilderness, especially in the wilderness, because he has been in the wilderness with us. he has been in the wilderness for us. he has been acquainted with our grief. and, loving him, we will come at last to love each other too so that, in the end, the name taped on every door will be the name of the one we love.
............."and these words which i command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."........
and rise we shall, out of the wilderness, every last one of us, even as out of the wilderness Christ rose before us. that is the promise and the greatest of all promises.

are you in a wilderness love? i'm in the wilderness of love and it's a manna journey and a blessed sweet joy, with surprises and unexpected moments of care, trust, faith, comfort, laughter!(my favorite!), and so many other emotions, and fruits of the holy spirit of the LIVING GOD!
i will choose this day.. and the next, and the next, with his hand leading... to love the lord god with all my my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my might. woohoo!! :-)


after i finished typing some of the sermon, i was looking for a picture for this post... i ran across this dvd/movie that is based on a true story.. thought it was appropriate to share since it's the same 'subject' of leaving the 'one we love and promised to', and returning to the promised love in the end... the real god is our covenant god! i haven't watched the movie, so sorry if it's not good production wise, etc.. but the summary is good, i thought~

Summary

Inspired by a true story, the made-for-TV Personally Yours stars Valerie Bertinelli as the recently divorced Susannah Stanton. Shed of her husband Jesse (Jeffrey Nordling), an Alaskan rancher, Susannah strikes a blow for independence by opening up her own restaurant in Anchorage. Still, there is something lacking in Susannah's life, and her three children think they know what it is. Placing a classified personal in the local newspaper, the enterprising kids advertise for a perfect father, knowing full well that their specifications match one man and one man only -- their own dad Jesse. An engaging illustration of the old saw that "love is lovelier the second time around,"



happy day to you this friday!! love, lis