Simple Reminders

It was great to wake up this morning to snow! Granted, it is a dusting, but fun to see a blanket of white covering things. Later Fawn and I will join a good friend and her canine son for a tramp on the Appalachian Trail! Oh so fun! And can't wait!

On a completely different note, I (Sheila) have tried very intentionally not to 'bug' Julie with a lot of 'Did you hear anything' or 'Are we there yet' emails. I just couldn't stand the suspense this past week! I admit it...I gave into a very weak moment! =) Fortunately CHI's Colombia progam director is a very patient and kind person. =)

I guess you could say that I had a hard time with the suspense of not knowing whether or not Dave and Debbie's birth certificates had arrived in Colombia and in the hands of the ICBF. So, in a weak moment, I emailed Julie to find out if she had heard anything from Lucia...and yesterday, she replied to say that the ICBF had received the birth certificates and would be providing them to the persons who were reviewing our cases. Whoo! Glad to hear that delivery was successful! My committed prayer for the week had been protection for both pieces of paperwork...especially Dave's since he would have a little difficulty from here in getting a second original. According to CHI, this paperwork should move us into a regional assignment in the near future...not sure what 'near' means as we have yet to get an official 'approval' notice...then again, we have seen that some never hear of that 'approval' and eventually find out that their paperwork is in a region waiting on a referral. So, I am committing myself to patience and will resist the urge to send any more emails to poor Julie.

I wanted to end this post with a rather long quote, or should I say excerpt from a book that I am re-reading...it is such a wonderful one at that: "Life of the Beloved", by Henri J.M. Nouwen. Henri wrote this book after meeting and getting to know a man by the name of Fred Bratman. Fred had met Henri as a journalist looking to do an article on Henri for a local newspaper. From that initial meeting they maintained a long-standing friendship, one that birthed "Life of the Beloved". The book was actually written at the Fred's request of Henri to write a book for persons who weren't a part of the church as all of Henri's writings up to that point had been written with Christian believers in mind. Fred wanted Henri to address the "need for a spirituality that speaks to men and women in a secularized society...He was asking me to respond to the great spiritual hunger and thirst that exist in countless people who walk the streets of big cities. He was calling me to speak a word of hope to people who no longer came to churches or synagogues and for whom priests and rabbis were no longer the obvious counselors."

Fred had shared with Henri: "'You have something to say,' Fred kept telling me, 'but you keep saying it to people who least need to hear it...What about us young, ambitious secular men and women wondering what life is all about after all? Can you speak to us with the same conviction as you speak to those who share your tradition, your language and your vision?'"

In writing to a new audience, Henri finds himself thinking about what it means to be 'chosen' as the Beloved of God. And so as I contemplate, anew this morning, what it means to be chosen by God, I wanted to share with family and friends an excerpt from his book:

"In this world, to be chosen simply means to be set apart in contrast to others. You know how in our extremely competitive society the 'chosen ones' are looked at with special attention. Whole magazines are dedicated to 'heroes' of sport, film, music, acting and other ways of excelling. They are the 'chosen ones' and their devotees, whether readers, listeners, or viewers, try to extract some vicarious pleasure from knowing them or being close to them.

To be chosen as the Beloved of God is something radically different. Instead of excluding others, it includes others. Instead of rejecting others as less valuable, it accepts others in their own uniqueness. It is not competitive, but a compassionate choice. Our minds have great difficulty in coming to grips with such a reality. Maybe our minds will never understand it. Perhaps it is only our hearts that can accomplish this. Every time we hear about 'chosen people', 'chosen talents' or 'chosen friends,' we almost automatically start thinking about elites and find ourselves not far from feelings of jealousy, anger, or resentment. Not seldom has the perception of others as being chosen led to aggression, violence and war.

But I beg you, do not surrender the word 'chosen' to the world. Dare to claim it as your own, even when it is constantly misunderstood. You must hold on to the truth that you are the chosen one. That truth is the bedrock on which you can build a life as the Beloved. When you lose touch with your chosenness, you expose yourself to the temptation of self-rejection, and that temptation undermines the possibility of ever growing as the Beloved.

As I look within as well as around myself, I am overwhelmed by the dark voices telling me, 'You are nothing special; you are just another person among millions; your life is just one more mouth to feed, your needs just one more problem to solve.' These voices are increasingly powerful, especially in a time marked by so many broken relationships. Many children never feel welcomed in the world. Beneath their nervous smiles, there is often the question: 'Am I really wanted?' Some young people even hear their mothers say: 'I hadn't really expected you, but once I found out I was pregnant I decied to have you anyway...You were sort of an accident." Words or attitudes such as these do nothing to make a person feel 'chosen.' Our world is full of people who question whether it would have been better had they not been born. When we do not feel loved by those who gave us life, we often suffer our whole life long from a low self-esteem that can lead easily to depression, despair, and even suicide.

In the midst of this extremely painful reality, we have to dare to reclaim the truth that we are God's chosen ones, even when our world does not choose us. As long as we allow our parents, siblings, teachers, friends and lovers to determine whether we are chosen or not, we are caught in the net of a suffocating world that accepts or rejects us according to its own agenda of effectivity and control. Often this reclaiming is a lifelong work because the world persists in its efforts to pull us into the darkness of self-doubt, low self-esteem, self-rejection and depression. And this because it is as insecure, fearful, self-deprecating people that we can most easily be used and maniputlated by the powers surrounding us. The great spiritual battle begins--and never ends--with the reclaiming of our chosenness. Long before any human being saw us, we are seen by God's loving eyes. Long before anyone hear us cry or laugh, we are heard by our God who is all ears for us. Long before any person spoke to us in this world, we are spoken to by the voice of eternal love. Our preciousness, uniqueness and individuality are not given to us by those who meet us in clock-time--our brief chronological existence--but by the One who has chosen us with an everlasting love, a love that existed from all eternity and will last through all eternity."

Wow! What a powerful reminder of what it means to be 'chosen'...to be the Beloved of God. Sure, there is so much more to life in Christ...but our journey begins with this foundational truth, and it is good to have these simple reminders along the way!