Thursday, December 9, 2010

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent

“I am the LORD, your God,who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’ ” - Isaiah 41:13

How do we find God among people around us? In our quests to reach out to others, we may forget that the Lord is there. A peculiar aspect of being human is a deep desire to belong, to fit within a social context, and to play a role in our social environments. I can offer my own workplace as an example. My position as a hospital employee often puts me on the brink of life and death situations. Should anything happen, I often find myself struggling to defend my qualifications and prove my actions were responsible. In convincing others, failure would mean walking away from my position, my job, my colleagues, my team. In other words, I constantly struggle to keep my role among others. It is when our very place in society is threatened that we can find ourselves pleading for recognition. The Lord grants us an escape, to know that we belong to Him. We are God’s beloved whether others care to recognize it or not. While people can cast judgement, criticize, and alienate, God tells us not to fear because He will always be there and help.

Lord, in our struggles to maintain and grow our relationships with those around us, may we always keep in mind that there You are to guide and support us.

What have we done in the past to prove our worthiness to belong in a group? Why did we not feel like we belong as one chosen by God?

reflected by Le Anthony Vinh

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