Parent and Child

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?
If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions. Matthew 22:41-46

I spent some time today having routine tests that the doctor had ordered for my physical. Filling out forms, I thought about all of the information they were asking for, and how little of it told the full story. Yes, there is cancer in the family, yes my mother is still living....on and on. Medical histories are so important, I do understand. But there is a richness is relationship, that is bigger than just our DNA, bigger a story than who we know ourselves to be, or even who we think we are. There is the story of who God made us to be and how we are in relationship to our Creator. We are children of a loving, eternal parent who sees more than just an aging person with potential for disease and failure. God sees us as beloved children.

Jesus is being tested by the leaders of the synagogue. He has annoyed and frightened them because they are aware of his influence but he is not an insider and he hasn't conformed to the rules of their leadership. He is a straggly off-cast from the hinterlands, neither sophisticated nor trained in their polite society. And yet, folks recognize his authority and relationship with God. He knew God intimately, as a child to a parent. Our relationship with God is to be similar, as children of the living God. Not as outcasts or orphans but as beloved children, sought out and wanted by the Creator who delights in each offspring and sees them as great gifts and endless possibilities.

Today, I ask God to help me live as both a beloved child and a loving parent, always open to more - capacity and blessing in myself and others. It's easy to dwell on our deficits as they seem so obvious. May we dwell on our gifts and our potentials, our growth and our strengths, so that God can use them for the healing of the world and for the uplifting of all the children, everywhere.