I have long valued the story of the tender-hearted young boy who liked to walk on the mountain trails with his friend, an old monk. One day, the boy stopped still, staring at a butterfly on a bush blazing in the sunlight. He cried out, “O, Father, I see God in that bush!” The monk smiled at the boy, looked all around, and said, “I do not see anything that is not God.”
I think Jesus had eyes like that old monk. Jesus said he was not of this world, but belonged to another world, another kin-dom, another reality blazing with eternal truth. When pressed on whether he was a king or not, Jesus spoke of this alternate reality.* The truth of belonging and living from another reality is what gave him a different way of being. It was undoubtedly the key to his abundant compassion, capacity for healing, and non-violence. The beauty of God’s goodness, the truth of God’s hope, God’s possibilities must have blazed through everything on the trails of Jesus’ life.
I often ponder and pray for that depth of belonging. How wonderful it would be to have a steady awareness of an anchor in the eternal realm of beauty and goodness. To be steadily able to take the high road in conflicts. To be steadily able to see divine possibilities in suffering. To be steadily loving instead of angry or judgmental. I want to be like that old monk and see that everything is radiant with God. To steadily know that the Living Presence is alive in everything and everyone.
I think it begins with personally knowing the steady truth of God’s love. I remember the impact of Henri Nouwen’s book, Life of the Beloved, in our community. As soon as the manuscript was available, the Servant Leadership School was given permission to make copies of it for Gordon Cosby’s core class on Servant Leadership. When published, it became required reading for that class. Many in the community became involved in leading silent retreats based on the content of the book. One dramatic discovery was that many had never been told, “You are God’s beloved child. You are beautiful, wonderful and precious in God’s sight.” Few had been told this truth enough that it could be appropriated in any meaningful ongoing way.
Jesus knew it in his bones. His earthly life was a testament to the transformative, steadying truth of being beloved, beloved to the One who was well-pleased with him and said so. He demonstrated that it is possible for us to know this steadying truth in an ultimate way. Then to share it, live it, and affirm it in others. It is a life changing truth and a world-changing truth.
–Ann Dean, Dayspring Church
Reflection Questions
- How might you claim the truth of God’s love for you in a new way?
- How might the truth of your belovedness change a struggle in your life?
- Is there a group or community in which you can offer the practice of mutual affirmation of belovedness?
