LIVING IN THE PRESENCE : Remembering to Whom I Belong

TUESDAY May 25
Isaiah 43 : 1 – 2

Jeremiah 1 : 4 – 8

Mark 14 : 66 – 72

John 15 : 1 – 5

Praying scriptures like these reminds me of how precious I am in God’s eyes. Also, how patient God is to wait for me to be aware of and live that truth.

As I reflect upon my spiritual history, I become increasingly aware of how much of my life I have lived with feelings of the fear of inadequacy. I have tended to compare my gifts with those of others who seem so much greater and more effective.

I recall an early experience when I entered high school. The first day I was assigned to a desk next to a tall athletic 14 year old whose whole body and everything about him were in such contrast to my smallness. Then when he spoke these devastating words, I was ready to bolt from the class and run away and hide, “Look at the little runt. He can’t even touch the floor yet. What’s he doing here?” I slithered down in my seat trying to hide from the laughing eyes of my classmates. From that moment on, I tried to academically prove myself worthy of respect and acceptance in spite of my small stature. It was a long battle, one that was not easy. I was haunted by the image of the small young boy relegated to the end of the front row in every class photo.

The question troubled me much of my spiritual life, until I concluded I needed to ask another question. It is not what am I doing here, who will accept me or where do I belong. The question is to whom do I belong? That is of basic importance. Through words such as ‘don’t say you are only a boy’, God reminds me once more that it is not what I look like, what I can do, or what I possess in gifts, abilities or material things that matter. Rather, it is to whom I belong and who I choose to be in God’s sight and my own.

This week I want to remember, I belong to the One who loved me into creation, loved me into forgiveness through Christ, who loved me into the kind of service Jesus demonstrated in his focus upon the poor, suffering, dispossessed and discarded faces of humanity. It is in following Jesus’ way of working for God’s reign of loving relationships and justice for all, that I find purpose, meaning and fulfilment I know will last for eternity.

B. Seebach

For Reflection and Journaling:

1. What experiences limit my awareness of belonging to God?
2. What experiences cause me to remember my belonging?

Meditative Prayer:

Help me, O God, to see myself as you see me.
Open me further to the wondrous affirmation that I belong to you, through Christ whose love and living lead me in your way. Amen.

Material produced by Week of Guided Prayer Network, Hamilton Conference, United Church of Canada, 2011.