This week: God as a new born. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]There are so many changes that will take place. Imagine looking around at others
you encounter during the day and seeing a new born. The round faces with skin as
soft as a (get this) baby's butt, become the faces that we usually see. The faces
of angles and varied complexions and hair and weathered skin. Those same faces of
a new born become - over the years - one of 'them' and often people we at whom we
point or about whom we whisper. God as a new born calls on us to see others unrealistically.
But as we age, we begin to see differences and make judgments and learn to turn
our backs and refuse to touch and hold. Think about all the weight we add to our
lives just by how we see others and with that see ourselves in relation to them.
I am always amazed at how much judgment and prejudice and fear and condemnation
exists in the life of a child in confirmation (7th and 8th grades). Sometimes I
can see that these children have had quite a bit of stuff dumped on them. That dumping
of 'grown-up' biases and prejudices takes hold quickly and they are hard to dismantle.
God as a new born is the power we are given to help one another be relieved of all
the weight put upon us. We are invited to take on one primary identity - beloved
of God. This is when we hold and guard and give ourselves away for the sake of
the other - rather than push the other away. This is not a heavy load.
O God of love and new life, remind us of how life can be so fragile and we are all
shaped by your Spirit to honor the weak and offer ourselves as kind and gentle hands
that will protect and serve other - endlessly. Amen.
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