In the late 1960s there was a musical recording made of the famous poem by Max Ehrmann called “Desiderata.” In the Desiderata there is a line that says, “You are a child of the universe…” and as I come to the end of another year, I want to acknowledge that you and I are much more than just “children of the universe,” we are “children of God.”
That, for me, is a completely different and challenging reality.
As a child of the universe, I can be as independent and individual as I choose.
However, as a child of God, I am called to care for and serve all whom God has created, even creation herself.
This is a difficult task, but we are not alone. God who calls us “children” also loves us as God’s own and has come to show us how to live in community by binding up the broken hearted, feeding the hungry and visiting the sick, and above all else to proclaim the glory of God in all we do.
For the person who makes a choice to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, it means that we are called to centre our lives on God’s will for new life. This means that we will be changed (not like my yearly resolution to exercise more) but truly changed as a beloved and blessed child of God bringing glory to God through our every deed.
May God continue to bless you in this New Year and may you continue to shine God’s light into the darkness.
