One of the most trying experiences for any parent is when their child announces, "You don't love me!"

This usually takes place when the youngster is denied something they desperately want. In my household that can be anything from a cookie to a toy to the latest expensive video gaming device of the day. It is exasperating, after years and years of effort to provide the love and support your child needs, to hear these words. At times like this, I feel like screaming, "How can you possibly doubt my love for you?"

In today's readings, God seems to experience the same kind of exasperation. In the first reading, God reminds the Israelites how they were rescued from slavery in Egypt:

"You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on eagle's wings and brought you here to myself. Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation."

In the second reading Paul reminds the Romans of how much Christ loves them.:

"Brothers and sisters, Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."

How could I possibly doubt God's love? It seems silly, of course, but I do. God has proven his love for us over and over again. But if you're like me, it doesn't take much to call it into question. I can be just like one of my own children, doubting God's love because, basically, I haven't gotten what I asked for.

I want my life to go smoothly. I want my future to be secure. I want all my loved ones to enjoy peace and prosperity. I may not scream like an eight-year-old when I am afraid something dear to me is at risk, but I can feel the same intense desire and insecurity when I feel that something that I desire so keenly might slip away.

God urges the Israelites to continue to trust God to lead them, even now that they are out of Egypt and out of an immediate danger. We are called to do the same - to continue to desperately cling to God's teachings and guidance at all times, that we will continue to experience the saving power that we are promised.

And we are encouraged to remember how much God has loved us in Christ, dying for us even when we rejected his love. Nothing can take that away, and certainly we would be foolish to abandon this commitment to our spiritual well being.

Bill Peatman writes from Napa. He may be reached at bptidings@yahoo.com.