A Thought For The Week Of October 7

"A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26) A couple of hundred years ago, the German writer Jean Paul Richter wrote that "God is an unutterable sigh, planted in the depths of the soul." The prophet Ezekiel suggested that one of the works of God for God's people would be to bring about a change of heart - transforming hearts of stone (cold, hard, unbending) and turning them into hearts of flesh (warm, alive, feeling.) This would be done by God giving us a new spirit - not the Holy Spirit, I don't think, but rather a new attitude and outlook on life that comes as a result of our faith. Almost a new "me" and a new "you" - freed from worries and fears, and opened to the working of God around us and among us and even within us. I believe Richter might have been reflecting if not on the words of Ezekiel, at least on the same principle. If we truly and fully open ourselves to God, the only possible result can be a totally transformed life, committed to God, and to the well-being of all those around us. That "unutterable sigh" is the sense of complete peace and contentment that God fills us with. We cannot fully comprehend the love and grace of God - nor can we fully comprehend why it's poured out for us. We can only marvel. Words do not do it justice. We are God's. We know this in the depths of our souls. Have a great week!