Previous Reflections
REFLECTIONS
February 2nd, 2020For you created my inmost being; /you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Psalms 139:13-14Search for Self
Body, soul and spirit, God made each of us special. From our first breaths to the very present, we live our days to sustain the life given us. Daily work provides food and shelter for ourselves and those we find in our care. Along the way, relationships form and grow, and together with incidents around us, knit a veil to hide whatever there is about us that we want no one else to see. We even deceive ourselves; and the search for self begins. Who am I?
In the Broadway musical Les Misérables, Jean Valjean faces that very question. He agonizes over the lie he lives by pretending to be someone he is not. He questions, “Who am I? Can I conceal myself evermore? Pretend I’m not the man I was before? And must my name until I die be no more than an alibi? Must I lie? Who am I?”
Our world is filled with meetings to attend, appointments to make, and commitments to keep. Our plans and projects move us through life allowing little time to wonder if any of them are worthwhile. What compels us then to present ourselves as something we believe will meet the approval of the world, and to disguise things that fall short of worldly expectations? The questions may lead us to try to uncover who we are. We take personality tests, read self-improvement books, engage in intimate conversations with close friends in the search to know ourselves and to understand reasons that drive our own behavior. But why do we need to know?
Jean Valjean found the freeing power of truth as his crescendo concludes, “How can I ever face my fellow men? How can I ever face myself again? My soul belongs to God, I know. I made that bargain long ago. He gave me hope when hope was gone. He gave me strength to journey on. Who am I? Who am I? I’m Jean Valjean!”
For you created my inmost being; /you knit me together in my mother’s womb. / I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; (Psalms 139:13-14)
God made you and me to be just as He intended (nothing more nor less.) Comparing how we have chosen to be with how he made us to be exposes our sinfulness. Realizing our own sins helps us more readily forgive others for theirs and draws us closer to Jesus—
Because we need a Savior.
You are the light of the world,
Richard +
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