“God is the higher and the lower, the dots and the spaces between the dots; nothing can fall out of God, and all is tenderly and joyously held.”
– Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening (pg. 158), by Cynthia Bourgeault

Last month in my class on Spiritual Direction while my professor was speaking, she said, “Nothing falls out of God.” I didn’t hear anything anyone said after that for quite some time. As those words melted into my brain, everything else shut off. “Nothing falls out of God.”

Earlier that month, a man opened fire on hundreds of people enjoying a musical concert in Las Vegas. Just last week a man drove a truck into pedestrians in New York City in the name of terror. Yesterday, a man open fired in a church in Texas. Throughout the world, children are starving and being abused by adults who were once starving or abused themselves. Human beings are being sold as sex slaves. Selfishness and disrespect for others seems to be the norm when one human encounters another. Political rivals are pointing fingers and blaming the other side for all of it.

“Nothing falls out of God.” Really? As I have watched and listened and encountered the world since my professor uttered those words, my heart has sobbed in despair. How can that possibly be? How can it be that nothing falls out of God when these horrible things are happening? How can it be that nothing falls out of God when concern for anything other than self is rarely something we see? Since hearing those words, the sadness I have felt throughout my entire being has been overwhelming.

Then, this morning, those words popped up again in a slightly different way. As I sat in my sacred quiet room, where I meet silently and contemplatively with God each morning, I read the line quoted at the top of this page. Surrounding those unbelievable words that have ripped at the edges of my soul for the past few weeks was the balm to begin the healing. Nothing can fall out of God because God is everywhere. “…the dots and the spaces between the dots…” Nothing can fall out of God because God’s arms envelop and celebrate everything. “…all is tenderly and joyously held…”

Between the anger and the hatred and the blame is the way to healing and growth through Acceptance, Love, and Unity. Surrounding all the victims, their families, and the community is the protective and comforting Embrace of the Creator. In every act, in every day, in every moment, the invitation for peaceful and joyous union with that Creator awaits.

Nothing can fall out of God because God never gives up. Even in the distressed corners of our minds and the out-in-the-open horror of our world, God’s Love is there waiting patiently and faithfully for just one human to reach out a hand.