More dark chocolate inspiration, Catherine of Sienna, and the empty tomb.

All right, yesterday my Dove chocolate wrapper said, "Open your eyes to all the love around you."

So cheesy right? And yet, it inspired me to write again.

At certain times in our lives, it may be a lot easier to believe that there isn't love all around each of us, that we aren't infinitely loved by a loving Heavenly Father, and also that we aren't appreciated, accepted, and esteemed by most, if not all, of the people in our acquaintance.

I believe that each of us is hard-wired to want to believe the best of others, see the best in others, and appreciate and cherish what is good in others. Deep down, that is our God-given default setting. It's protecting and growing that capacity in us that can be tricky. Fear, pride, confusion, the attack of the evil one all distort our ability to think clearly and to believe fully. It's getting back to our nature, I think, the way we were originally designed by God, that should be our goal. It should be encouraging to realize that we are cooperating with God's desire for us!

When you can believe that you are infinitely loved and perhaps much more esteemed and appreciated by people than you might think, suddenly, much more is possible than you could have ever dreamt or imagined. Love gives birth to freedom. The love that the Lord has for each of us frees us to live with courage and joy and allows to drink deeply from the well of salvation and joy that never, never runs dry.

This isn't simply another version of the "power of positive thinking" model that I am trying to employ. This is actually the truth that Christians are called to live in the light of. It's a choice that we put into practice each moment of each day, in the face of everything from mundane annoyances to terrific hardships—we are still invited to live in this truth; we hunger to live out of this truth.

If you can't believe that miracles happen, if you can't believe that they happen in and through you because you are God's beloved child, servant, and instrument, then how will you do what Saint Catherine of Sienna calls people to do? "Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire."

We aren't the source of our strength and power, but we are surrounded by and immersed in God who is.

So, open your eyes. Open your eyes to the love that God has for you right now, in this moment. Open your eyes to the love that those around you, those whom you know well and those who don't, have for you. Open your eyes to the great things that the Lord wants to do in and through you and also, for you, because of his great love, he who, by nature is Love Itself.

What would we do and how would we live each moment of each day if we lived in the light of this truth?

The choice is for us to make. We can either, like Mary Magdalene, stand right outside Jesus's empty tomb and weep and fret because the tomb is empty, or we can choose to believe that the tomb is empty because Jesus has risen from the dead and is alive, is exactly who he says he is and is perfectly faithful to all that he has said.

Wherever we are, there is great hope for us. The Lord is near, and he quietly asks each of us, with great love and compassion, "Why are you crying?" Just as God searches for Adam in the garden, just as the shepherd searches relentlessly for the one missing sheep, so does Jesus search for us, wherever we are—and he will go on searching for us, for as long as it takes. Why are we crying? It's not an accusation; he wants to know. May we let him bring us to a place of freedom, joy, and peace.