In the week ahead we will be reflecting together on the seasons of life. Today’s theme is birth. In Psalm 139 we read: “In God I have been fearfully and wonderfully made.” What reassuring but also challenging words!
Each one of us has been born into this world. It is perhaps the most traumatic experience we will ever make: that catapulting out of the dark; the first flash of light and the blurred sighting of our mother’s expectant face; the first breath; the first feeling of strangeness in a world that has, until now, not really been our own. Birth has set us out on a journey from which there is no turning back. In our profound innocence, we are confronted with the most fundamental fact of our existence: we are now alive in this world.
In Psalm 139, the psalmist has become aware of the mystery of human existence. In an outburst of joyful self-discovery, the author is overwhelmed by the fact that God knows him. Not one aspect of his life or personhood has gone unknown by God, even his humblest beginnings in the womb of his mother. In that soft, warm and nurturing darkness, God was already weaving together his destiny. Fearfully and wonderfully, God has enabled him to be.
The psalm challenges us to affirm unconditionally the life God has granted us. This is a step painful for so many of us who have never learned to see ourselves as God sees us. For some, it is a task that may take many years. It is a journey of self-acceptance, self-love, forgiveness and faith.
Let us observe now a moment of silence as we lay reality of our being born – as painful as this may be – at the altar of infinite Love.
Silence
God of Life, we so often stumble in understanding your ways with us. More often, it is difficult to understand ourselves. Help us to honor our lives. Lead us into a deepening awareness of the mysteries of our bodies and spirits. Teach us to walk with you into a greater acceptance of all that we are. Amen.
“Bless the Lord, my soul, and bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, my soul, who leads me into life.”
