Our lives are to be “taken, blessed, broken and given” like sacramental bread.
First, proclaim that we are taken (or chosen)
We know that—
“someone (God) has noticed me in my uniqueness and has expressed a desire to know me, to come closer to me, to love me… as the Beloved, we are God’s chosen ones… we have been seen by God from all eternity and seen as unique, special, precious beings.”
Recognize that the way God chooses is not the way we usually choose. It’s inclusive, not exclusive.
“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 a competitive, but a compassionate choice.”
“When love chooses, it chooses with perfect sensitivity for the unique beauty of the chosen one, and it chooses without making anyone else feel excluded.”
Battle self-rejection
“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.”
How to do this when we are constantly faced with rejection?
Stand on the truth that we are loved by God and reject the many lies that the world will tell us. Even though we feel hurt and rejected, we have to maintain that our feelings often do not tell us the truth about ourselves. Firmly believe in and listen to the voice of God in all circumstances.
Find community that affirms and reminds us of this truth eg. church, family, friends.
Celebrate our chosen-ness by constantly giving thanks to God and others who remind us of this truth. Choose to be grateful and not bitter (skeptical, cynical, critical).
“Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are not an “accident,” but a divine choice.”
Realize that others are chosen as well.
“I now realize that I had to be in touch with my own goodness to discover the unique goodness of Helen. As long as my self-doubts and fears guided me, I couldn’t create the space for Helen to reveal to me her beauty… It is only when we have claimed our own place in God’s love that we can experience this all-embracing, noncomparing love and feel safe, not only with God, but also with all our brothers and sisters.”
We need to be blessed and to bless others
“To give someone a blessing is the most significant affirmation we can offer… To give a blessing is to affirm, to say “yes” to a person’s Belovedness.”
Blessing is more than just saying, hey nice haircut or praising someone for their skills at making a nice dinner. It’s calling out someone’s God-given identity (something like exercising the Spiritual gift of prophecy- which reminds me of this sermon by Tyler Staton).
“It is not enough to be chosen. We also need an ongoing blessing that allows us to hear in an ever-new way that we belong to a loving God who will never leave us alone, but will remind us always that we are guided by love on every step of our lives.”
To bless is to proclaim God’s truth over someone. Blessing opposes the rejection, cynicism and criticism (curses) that the world so often places upon us and reminds us of who we are.
“The sense of being cursed often comes more easily than the sense of being blessed, and we can find enough arguments to feed it.”
How to hear and claim this blessing? Remember that “it is not just a sentiment, but a truth that shapes our daily lives”.
Prayer - to be silent and listen to God’s voice
“To gently push aside and silence the many voices that question my goodness and to trust that I will hear the voice of blessing”
Presence - cultivate presence by staying attentive to the blessing. To not get caught up in the busyness of our daily lives and make time to “stop, listen, pay attention, and receive gracefully what is offered to us.”
Proclaim God’s blessing over other people
“…claiming your own blessedness always leads to a deeper desire to bless others.”
Realize that our brokenness forms an important part of ourselves and identity
“Our brokenness is just as unique to us as our chosenness and blessedness.”
Often, the most devastating brokenness that we suffer is that of a broken heart; “feeling rejected, ignored, despised and left alone.”
“Our society is so fragmented, our family lives so sundered by physical and emotional distance, our friendships so sporadic, our intimacies so “in-between” things and often so utilitarian, that there are few places where we can feel truly safe.”
How to respond to brokenness (aka pain and suffering)-
Befriend it (do not move away or repress pain, rather move through it)
“My own experience with anguish has been that facing it and living it through is the way to healing. But I cannot do it on my own. I need someone to keep me standing in it, to assure me that there is peace beyond the anguish, life beyond death, and love beyond fear…attempting to avoid, repress, or escape the pain is like cutting off a limb that could be healed with proper attention.”
Put it under blessing (choose not to give into the temptation of self-rejection, but believe that, regardless of circumstances, we are loved and treasured by God)
“Our brokenness is often so frightening to face because we live it under curse.”
“When we keep listening attentively to the voice calling us the Beloved, it becomes possible to live our brokenness, not as a confirmation of our fear that we are worthless, but as an opportunity to purify and deepen the blessing that rests upon us… great and heavy burdens become light and easy when they are lived in the light of the blessing. What seemed intolerable becomes a challenge. What seemed a reason for depression becomes a source of purification. What seemed punishment becomes a gentle pruning. What seemed rejection becomes a way to a deeper communion.”
Our brokenness is an opportunity to grow in even deeper acceptance of our Belovedness.
“All addictions make us slaves, but each time we confess openly our dependencies and express our trust that God can truly set us free, the source of our suffering becomes the source of our hope.”