Today at church the Collect for the 12th Sunday after Trinity was read:
Almighty and everlasting God,
you are always more ready to hear than we to pray
and to give more than either we desire or deserve:
pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid
and giving us those good things
which we are not worthy to ask
but through the merits and mediation
of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
This reminded me of that famous snapshot of the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel, the Creation of Adam, and an observation a friend of mine made. If you look closer you’ll see that God is fully outstretched, straining every muscle in reaching out to Adam. You can even see His angels pulling him back, like an anchor to keep Him from falling out of Heaven. Meanwhile Adam is reclining, his wrist limp. He could easilty traverse the distance between himself and God, but he is not willing to put forth the effort.
I found myself humbled and convicted as the Collect was read this morning. How unworthy am I to receive anything from God, yet how richly does He bless me?