No place I would rather be

Once a month my local Catholic church hosts Youth 2000 for an evening of eucharistic adoration, which I attend whenever I can, even if only for a short time. When I went at the start of this month the slowly filling church was prayerful, still, and silent, except for a couple of musicians in a corner, softly singing a worship song. Listening intently, I could just about make out some of its words, fluttering repetitively into the silence, and allow them to gently weave themselves into my soul. 

I want more of you, God
I want more of you, God...

Ah yes; I had been drawn to religious life because of a search and a desire for 'more' of God; a 'more' I continue to find, even as I continue to search and yearn for it. It is both a desire and a delight. I want more of you, God... And around and alongside them, I could discern other words, which gradually seeped into me, and even now are the gentlest of inner songs...

No place I would rather be
No place I would rather be
Than here in your love, here in your love...

Than here in you, who are Love... Than here in your Heart... Here, in the Society of your Heart... Here, where I can find that more...

I heard these words almost four weeks ago, as I was preparing to move house. I haven't gone far; I'm still in the same road, only a few doors along. But a move is always a move, entailing sorting and packing, mess and tiredness and upheaval. And loss, too, amid the newness and promise. I was preparing to move from L's bend, with its quality of light, unimpeded winter sunrises and the laburnum opposite; its fragrant jasmine, and the loveliness of my neighbour's magnolia. I knew I would miss all these, even as I looked forward to settling into my lovely new home.

And yet... Just a day or two earlier, I had started the week, and the month of September, with rainbows! - God's sign and assurance of fidelity, and a promise kept. And I'd heard this promise within me: the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go (Joshua 1:9); and now I could add... No place I would rather be, than here, wherever here is, in your love...  

No more rainbows since then, but on the day I completed my move, the radiant gift and blessing of a final sunrise bathing L's bend in near-magical, golden light. And so now, a few weeks later, and in my new home, as I get to know its light and shadows, its surrounding greenery and different space, and all the promise it contains, I can still whisper the words... 

No place I would rather be, than here, in your love...

You can read about those rainbows here and here, and listen to the song, Set a Fire, here