The Covenant of the Open Hand- Love That Initiates Without Possessing
Chesed of Yesod Day 36 of 50 · Lovingkindness within Foundation
The Covenant of the Open Hand- Love That Initiates Without Possessing
The thirty-sixth saying of the Living Christ:
My friends, this is the Covenant of the Vine and the Branch which I have made with you.
I am the vine and you are the branches. I do not give life only to my own, but graft the lost and the vulnerable into my vine so all might have life more abundantly.
This way is walked through return and restoration. The heavens rejoice when one turns from the path of harm and returns to the way of love. Those who walk this path restore the world through the acts of love and attentiveness.
Love is the law of the way. Love one another as I have loved you, carrying one another’s burden so the way is easier for all. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, welcome the stranger, visit the imprisoned, and free the oppressed. This is the gospel of the way.
When you gather for the love feasts, join as the one bread of life as the many grains become one loaf. Partake in the bread and wine, remembering me and the works that I do. For I am with you always, calling everyone to the great banquet of Adonai.
I poured out my life on the cross, transforming the powers of the straying world into forgiveness and new life: returning love for hatred and grace for punishment. I showed the way through the darkness of this world. The Light cannot be overcome by the darkness, and the darkness flees before it. I rose into new life, which I give to you as branches of the vine. I share my life with everyone to bring the Light and Word to all.
Do not burden the seeker of the covenant. Graft them onto the vine and allow them to grow in their own time. A loving heart can shower wisdom upon others, flooding the land. Give them time to respond and soak in the wisdom. No one can enter the covenant without the turning of their own heart. Remember, I have followers who are not of this flock. They know my voice but see my face differently. The Word is spoken in the language of those who hear it. If they do not believe in me, but do the work of the way, leave them alone. The covenant calls people together through love. Love is not demanded, nor is it forced on others. Love grows on its own, drawing people together.
Do not let your hands give so much they can no longer receive.
When love is present, but commitment is not, distance grows between you and bonds cannot form. If you are unwilling to grow and be nurtured by the covenant, you will produce pods with no seeds. You may greet the world with open hands, but you never extend them to those in need.
Generous Initiation reaches toward the covenant with open hands. Those of the Way begin from a place of mutual abundance rather than its own need. It does not demand certainty or offerings.
The covenant is the memory of relationships where loving kindness flows, a place where people can return again and again when times are difficult. It is spoken from freedom, and that liberty makes everything else possible.
This is the grace at the root of every lasting bond: prepare the field and grant access to it freely and allow others to tend the field, and return to the work if they wish.
The covenant restores genuine freedom as it welcomes people to the work of love. It teaches the way for people to work together in the common work of God. It does not flood the field or withdraw from it.
It heals the soul by teaching generosity that makes room for what it cannot control. It restores the world because communities and relationships built on loving kindness carry a quality of life that coerced or withheld bonds can never generate.
The open hand that initiates covenant must also be the open hand that waits.
The oak knows. The well knows. The land under your feet has always been the first teacher. Creation’s Paths: A Creation Spirituality Primer gives that knowing a companion for the journey.
