The group Seals and Crofts has a song that begins: Darling, if you want me to be closer to you, get closer to me. Can you imagine God singing that to you? It echoes the Book of James where he says: Draw near to God and God will draw near to you (James 4:8).
The Sufi poet Abu Sa’id (967-1049) tells us how:
If you wish to draw near to God,
Seek God in the hearts around you.
Speak well of all, present or absent.
If you would be a light for others,
Be like the sun: show the same face to all.
To bring joy to a single heart is better
Than building countless shrines for worship;
To capture one heart through kindness is better
Than setting a thousand free.
This is the true lover of God,
Who lives with others,
Rises and eats and sleeps like others,
Gives and takes in the bazaar,
Yet never forgets God even for a moment.
Gracious God, fill us with Your joy as we continue to draw closer to You.─AMEN.
