Goodness

“Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee.”

“Come Thou Fount” Robert Robinson

This amazing verse to the equally amazing song, “Come Thou Fount”, has always brought me to tears. Always. It could make me cry anywhere. I wasn’t fully aware of why that was until I discovered that I had wasted so many years being “motivated” by fear and shame in my relationship with the Divine. I let him down over and over and over and thought that was a huge surprise to him.

I have discovered over the years that that fear and shame did not come from him, but from this twisted shame-based world we live in. But since that discovery I have tapped into a source of love and goodness that will sustain me for the rest of my life.

Fear and shame are just an absence of love, of God. When God is allowed free access to our hearts, he brings a quality of love that is a game changer! When I was willing release the dysfunctional things that bound my heart to him, I was able to accept goodness as the natural replacement. Like the verse says, “let they GOODNESS like a fetter find my wandering heart to thee.“ A fetter is a chain that slaves would wear on their ankles and wrists to restrain them, keep them from running. The image breaks down in several ways, but it is beautiful in its intent. What keeps me bonded, chained to him, is not fear or domination… It is goodness. He could NEVER desire us to be bonded to him in ANY other way.

Now think about that… It’s his goodness that keeps us connected to him and that’s why we can run at any time if we want, and we do, but it’s his goodness that causes us to return. Because there is no other source of love and goodness in the universe than this. Our hearts are drawn to his goodness like a moth to a flame. It is the only thing that will fill our hearts with real satisfaction and peace. Goodness. That is the active ingredient in our connection with God. Once we realize that we cease running. Why would we run? Where else would we go? This is the place we want to be. Because it’s the place where we are truly free. Goodness!