How well do we really know someone? Or put another way, for those people in our lives who could say that they know us, how well do they actually know us? Do they know fully our likes, dislikes, beliefs, hopes, fears and even our deepest secrets?
For most of us there is always a part of us that we keep to ourselves, often subconsciously, so, while it is true that we know people, and they know us, we all have a part of ourselves that we do not show or share with anyone.
The prophet Jeremiah writes that we are known by God. We are known fully and completely by God before we ever get the chance to utter our first words and think our first thoughts. It can be overwhelming to contemplate that there is no part of us that we can keep hidden from God. We are formed by God and known by God, and what’s more, we are appointed by God for God’s work and ministry in the world. No prior experience needed. Our very presence and being is all that God requires of us. What we do from there, is up to us. We can choose and accept this gift and grace in our lives and live a life patterned after the life of Christ, or we can choose not to. In so many ways, this is the truest of gifts. There are no strings or conditions attached.
The other side of this gift is that we do not have to accept this gift alone. God’s work and ministry is not done in isolation. Rather we are called to be in relationship with community. It is in community where we find support and encouragement and it is in community where we hold others up when they fall, knowing that they are there to hold us up when we stumble. It is in community where we find belonging and where we find God.
