Liquid Love: A Journey Through Life's Contradictions

Liquid Love

A Journey Through Life's Contradictions

Dr. Rena' D. Morrow

Copyright © 2020 by Dr. Rena’ D. Morrow

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

To Thine Self, Be True

The Healthy Heart of Love

The Yoke of Offense

That Place of Pain

That Place of Rest

Weapons for Restoration

Love Me More Than These?

Grief in Love

The Crown of Pride

Skipping Steps

Purpose for Love

Nurturing Love Through Relationships

Love Wants You Back

Liquid Love

Foreword

This is one of the most remarkable books I have read in my life. That, in itself, is a rather significant declaration, considering the fact that I have read in excess of one thousand books in about four decades of a totally exciting literary adventure. Quite beyond simply reading another book, however, what makes the author’s work singularly appealing to the more discerning aspect of my persona is that, in the first instance, she speaks a language that is simply one that I speak each day of my life. That language is one of unconditional love. It is also a language of the combined philosophy of the Excellent Triad of Faith, Love, and Hope. In the third instance, the author’s divinely-inspired concept of Liquid Love has found invaluable utility and purpose in my own spiritual life and practice. As an ardent practitioner of spiritual meditation, these days, I derive sheer intoxicating pleasure from slipping easily and tranquilly into God’s awesome presence simply by imagining a current of golden and viscous liquid love coursing through my entire being! Finally, of true and ultimate significance, it is a language of total trust in the eternal loving wisdom of the Divine.

I would be guilty of grave negligence if I failed to acknowledge that the author expresses herself with such lucidity and fluidity of thought that I am left gasping at the sheer creative genius that the Divine can bring forth in His creatures whenever He is ready to impart certain immutable truths to mankind. As I read this book, I was continually assailed by the distinct feeling that I was reading from a mind that is as clean as a glass of clear spring water. I realized I was in the awesome presence of a mind, and a soul, that had been subjected to unspeakable previous trauma but which had, in all likelihood, and by a conscious act of willpower, sought authentic succor and rest in the healing power that is embedded in our faithful search for our gracious Lord’s unfailing and unconditional love.

The beauty of this search is that it invariably leads us to the place where we discover love, compassion, and empathy for ourselves and for others. One of the sublime dividends of arrival at a place of loving healing is that our mind, having shed the burden of dysfunctionality, anger, vengeance, resentment, and self-loathing, it is now left beautifully clear for the germination of creative seeds, very much like the fertile farm ground that has been cleared of useless weed and is now ready to receive the farmer’s seedlings for the cultivation of healthy produce. That was the sort of creative mind I encountered on the pages you are about to read.

It is an inescapable truth that most of us have passed through, or will pass through, a great deal of heartache and pain on this life journey. Most of such heart-wrenching and painful events are ones that we would wish had never occurred. For us to cultivate the mind-set that will accord us a life of peace and joy, we will require the ability to view our very existence from a broader perspective and extract what lessons we can glean from it. It is from this oasis of perception that we can then proceed to create a more meaningful life for ourselves and for others, especially our loved ones.

Life is a truly magical project. In all essence, that project is actually a spiritual journey whose path is strewn with the priceless gems that have been placed at certain strategic locations with an obligation for us to unearth them. Gold, for instance, is a treasure that, for millennia, man has labored to dig deep into the bowels of the earth to reach. In fact, it is documented that the earliest gold mine may be as old as seven thousand years. Fascinatingly, there is another type of gold. This is the gold in every human experience, seemingly good or seemingly bad. Indeed and in fact, there is gold in even the most difficult and the most horrendous of experiences. To extract riches from these experiences and by natural extension, our life, all we need to do is find the gold therein. As we dig, it is merely a point of fact that we will finally discover nuggets of gold in the form of truths and lessons that we will use to heal our hurts and anger, and as this happens, we should make it a point to cherish these experiences and be grateful for them. Therein lie the invaluable dividends of unearthing the real treasures that will enrich our soul and the souls of others when they hear our stories.

How we choose to view our life story and those events in it that eventually mold us into who we ultimately become will either be invaluable instruments for our empowerment or they will keep us stranded in the past, possibly riddled with regret and resentment. In sober truth, our life story is possibly the best gift that our Lord could give us. To justify this gift, all we need to do is embrace our past agonies as necessary ingredients for growth in our love walk with God. That is how we will ultimately connect with our true life purpose. Our story is akin to that of the rough and brittle piece of rock by the seaside that is subjected to years of sustained friction by the elements until it finally becomes a smooth and beautiful pebble.

Finally, I sincerely commend this book to you. It is one of the most spiritually inspiring works I have had the privilege of reading. It is a book of simple utility in its delivery of not only life changing, but in certain critical situations, life-saving nuggets of wisdom. Additionally, the author has not only presented her work in such a way as to make for infinitely easy reading, assimilation, and application. The book is also one finished in exquisite literary taste. Happy reading.

Dr. Yomi Garnett, Ambassador

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

March 2019

Introduction

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

—1 John 4:18 (NIV)

It must have been merely a question of perfect Divine timing that I found myself quietly sitting on the pier of Chesapeake Bay on that mild summer day of 2018. Chesapeake Bay is an estuary that extends through the states of Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia and Virginia. I was at the premises of Sandy Cove Ministries, an all-inclusive, all year-round Christian retreat center located on the headwaters of Chesapeake Bay in North East Maryland. Like many other people, I had come to Sandy Cove Christian Center in anticipation of a special time away with God. In retrospect, I can’t help feeling that I was on that pier at that particular time, and on that particular day, for the particular reason that I was scheduled for a visitation from God. As the moist wind from the waters of the estuary blew across my face, so did a barely audible voice whisper a question into my ears. At first, I thought it was the soft howl of the wind but pricked up my ears to be sure. I heard the voice again. It was little above a whisper yet distinct enough to be heard.

Where have you been?

My mind immediately went to Moses’s encounter with God on the holy ground on Mount Sinai, more than four thousand years ago. Instantly, with a feeling of total awe and wonder, I knew that I had just heard a word from Him. I also knew instinctively that the question was a rhetorical question from the very heart of God.

At that surreal moment, a few thoughts ran through my mind:

Why had I been chosen for this visitation?

What was the real purpose of this encounter?

What was the meaning of the question?

How was I supposed to respond to the question?

Very quickly, however, I recovered my wits and realized that all I needed to immediately do was simply reflect the question back to myself, and that was what I did.

Rena’, where have you been?

Better still, Where exactly are you coming from?

At that moment of soul-searching, my need for an answer, being as urgent as it was important, I felt my mind go into a calm repose, even as I knew with a certain knowing that the Holy Spirit, the all-wise Counselor, would come to my aid. I was not disappointed.

The memories came flooding back. They were memories of a traumatic and tumultuous past and ones that seemed to have threatened my very existence as a Christian. They were memories of experiences that attempted to destroy my love for others and my trust in them. They were memories that threatened to dash my hope for a certain glorious future against an unyielding rock of total despair.

Accepting all these thoughts as being perfectly true, I asked myself the next logical question:

So what do all these really mean in my life?

The answer came in an insightful revelation as the rivulets of tears cascaded down my cheeks.

You have been stuck in a state of rejection. You have wallowed for too long in a place of hurt. Anger has eaten and is still eating away at your soul. The spirit of lack of forgiveness has taken residence in the wonderful space that compassionate understanding, charity, and humane accommodation should be occupying. Because of all these, you have turned a cold shoulder toward God. And since your face is turned away from Him, He finds it difficult to locate your face.

With my heart thumping furiously within my chest, I choked back the tears as I said audibly, Yes, this is all so true, Lord. Forgive me. Here I am. Heal me. The place I am coming from does not glorify you. I am ready to receive the soothing balm of your love.

At that moment, a gust of wind blew across my face on that scenic pier, and in that wind was the caressing hand of God. In that gust of wind was an incomparable warmth—the warmth of His unconditional love. In that gust of wind was the divine caress in which I felt nothing but the gentleness of His love. In that soft yet powerful wind, I felt the awesome and totally forgiving power of His love. And then, at that moment, I felt as if a liquid current of ethereal energy was flowing down my entire body, from the top of my scalp to the toes of my feet. It was a sensation like none I had ever experienced in my life. At that moment, I arrived at the ultimate revelation of the authentic nature of God’s total, unconditional, and uncompromising love.

This was love in action.

This was liquid love!

In that instant of revelation, all my fears dissolved, and I came into a perfect understanding of the scripture in 1 John chapter 4, verse 18 (NIV): There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Indeed, all my fears were dissolved into a nothingness, and on that day, my heart melted into the soft and yielding mass of the liquid love of God. And in my total acceptance of His will and love, God wrapped His hands around my cold heart and squeezed, and the liquid love came pouring out of my very essence. God had, in His absolute benevolence, taken me back to love. Little wonder He said in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 13 (NIV), And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Yes, the greatest of all is love, and nothing but love.

At this moment, all fear had left me. God had melted my heart today with his liquid love. Yes, God has, and will always take me back to love, for the greatest of these is love, He said. Yes, my impression at this moment is that I have been fighting to get my surrender back. All that love and the many sacrifices I made