Guess How Much I Love You is a wonderful book written by Sam McBratney and illustrated by Anita Jeram, published in 1994, in the United Kingdom by Walker Books and in 1995, in the United States by its subsidiary Candlewick Press.  It is a well-known book that I have read to both my children when they were little.

Little Nutbrown Hare was trying to say he loved Big Nutbrown Hare more than Big Nutbrown Hare loved him. He tried all kinds of ways to show how much he loved Big Nutbrown Hare. He reached out as wide as he could reach. He reached up as high as he could. He turned himself upside down and stretched out his feet. He even tried jumping in the air as high as he could jump. No matter what he did to show how much he loved Big Nutbrown Hare, guess what? Big Nutbrown Hare loved him that much more. 

Finally, Little Nutbrown hare says he loves Big Nutbrown Hare all the way to the moon. That's a really long way. That's 384,400 km. Do you know how far that is? Big Nutbrown Hare even admits that's a whole lot of love. But Big Nutbrown Hare leans in close to a sleeping Little Nutbrown Hare, and whispers that he loves Little Nutbrown Hare all the way to the moon and back.  It is a story that expresses the infinite love between two people (or Nutbrown Hares) and the way they make it known to each other. 

In the Gospel of John chapter 14:14-20…
Jesus is speaking to the disciples and I hear him trying to express that The Way of Love is the uniting thread between God, Jesus, and us.  That our activities in loving each other, the activities of love that Jesus has taught us, makes God known.  Loving each other can sometimes be hard.  But the type of love Jesus talks about is infinite and limitless and inclusive. The type of love that loves to the moon and back and back again. 

St. Augustine’s explanation of the Trinity is a good example of this relationship that is The Way of Love between God, Humanity and Spirit. He likened the Trinity to God the lover, Jesus the Beloved and the Holy Spirit, the love that unites them or the love in-between us.   This is the unity Jesus points us towards.  God the Love, Humanity the Beloved and the Love that unites us.
The Holy Spirit we’re waiting for is in the sharing of love, living in the Way of Love, and  the love in between us made fully known.  
A love that is far greater than to the moon and back and back again and back and...well, you get it.

Images of God seem to come easily for me.  I can both seriously and playfully seek and experience God in just about anything.  I enjoy the bible imagery of God and the parables of Jesus and the images and metaphors he uses to capture the nature of God. 

I have always loved engaging with children in ways and practices that help them seek the mystery that is God.  If there is one thing we all know for sure; children can be very literal.  Metaphors can be very hard for kids to make sense of.  And I love a good metaphor!  ‘God is like a….’ is an infinite unending sentence but can be very confusing for children in their mind.   At the same time, it is children, when they are totally free to form their own images of God, that come up with the best and most honest images.  My daughter Madison, when she was very young, once said that God has a heart of many colors.  Indeed! 

Language such as ‘God is in' or ‘I see God when’…allows us to engage with the characteristics of God.  God in the world around us, in the relationships we have, and in the ways in which we share God together.   We each personally get to define and create images of God that work uniquely for each of us.  

Every Friday of quarantine, the RBCC Youth Group and I have been participating in a group text that I call our Friday 3x3 (three-by-three).  Friday, 3 o'clock, 3 questions, in 3 minutes
We've shared some good laughs with these questions.  Such as: 
     The zombie apocalypse is coming, what 3 people are on your team? 
     What Disney animated character are you? 
      Name your favorite book and it's title in only emojis.  
      Best and Worst church potluck foods?
      What one thing could Jesus multiply for you? 
Some days, the questions are more introspective.  Such as: 
      What are you not? 
      On a scale of 1 to 10, how is your energy today? 
      If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing, what would it be?  
This week one of the questions I included was...
“Which emoji best represents an Image of God for you?”  
The emoji's I received back were varied and awesome...several hearts, crashing waves, the Milky Way, sunset and sunrise, a partial eclipse, a party hat, a peace sign, open hands, the earth, wind blowing,
a candle and a wizard.  

Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress once said “People see God every day, they just don’t recognize him."   Seeking the face of God can be easy, when we acknowledge the God dwells within each of us, between us, and all around us; in forms as varied as we are and as limitlessness as we can imagine.  It can also can be hard to seek out God's presence when we are feeling low, lost, lonely, hopeless, scared or marginalized.   

All ages can create your own Friday (or daily) 3x3 Spiritual Practice.  Take time at 3 o'clock on Friday or everyday, for 3 minutes to think about 3 times or ways that you saw or experienced God that day.  No need to be formal about it.  Just take a moment.  The more we can play seek and find with God, the better we will be at recognizing God in the little everyday moments.  

Elizabeth Gilbert (the author of  the book Eat, Pray, Love) wrote, “God dwells within me, as me”. 
Ultimately, perhaps you’ll be reminded daily that you too are one of those images for God.  

PSALM 23  (NRSV)
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Psalm 23 is familiar scripture.  It is as much about life and living as it is used for death and dying.  Psalm 23 is filled with the familiar:  shepherds, pastures, waters, dark valleys, tables, overflowing cups, protection and comfort.   When we hear it read, we bring to it our own life’s complex mix of fears and anxieties.  Hopefully, our anxieties are slightly quieted when we are reminded that God is shepherd, God is comforter and God is host. That God’s generosity and hospitality are infinite, radical and sustaining.
God walks with us, God waits with us, God is lonely with us. 
God is whatever you are, with you, right now.
God is not separate.

And yet, that first line…'The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want'.  I’ll be honest and please allow me be human…I don’t feel like I have everything I want right now.  I am grateful that I have everything I need…a home, my family, food in my cupboards, and meaningful  and purposeful work.  Yet, there is so much I yearn for right now.
Yearning is an action verb.  It is an intense felling of longing for something that we have lost or been separated from.   I am comforted by my understanding that if I yearn, God yearns with me.

So, what do we do about our yearnings?  
Have you ever noticed that time seems to move more quickly for adults than for children?  Like a car ride to a place you’ve never been takes so long the first time because you don’t know where you’re going?   This time of uncertainty we are all living in, feels like that car ride.  Long.  Not knowing where we are going or where we will end up or when.  The valley is dark and we are driving with our high beams on trying to see, just enough to stay centered on the road.  
We need activities to help us pass the time.  

This week’s activity for all ages is to start a Yearnings Jar.  All you need is a container, some paper or craft sticks, and a marker.   Ask yourself, what are your yearnings, wants, needs, wishes, prayers, and hopes?  Do you yearn for face to face connections,  gatherings,  play dates, coffee shops, happy hour?
Sports teams, school, concerts, vacations, youth group, hikes, hugs? 
 
Every time you have a yearning, that you could do something, go somewhere, treat yourself, see someone you love, visit a new place, invite people to visit you, take care of someone else… 
Write it down on a Post-it note or craft stick and put it in a jar.   Start collecting and filling your jar with yearnings. 

When the time comes, that jar will be become your bucket list and you will get to work your way through the jar and be more grateful than ever for the little and lovely things in our lives. 
Until then, enjoy watching the jar fill up with hopeful, helpful and wonderful things to look forward to. 
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And remember, that God is with you in your yearning and that it’s OK to want.