It is so easy to get lost. We lose ourselves when we try to buy happiness with clothes, houses, cars, and the latest video games. We lose ourselves when we take advantage of others as we build a lucrative career. We lose ourselves when we ignore the poor, the starving, and the homeless. We lose ourselves when we are verbally, mentally, spiritually, or physically abusive. We lose ourselves when we refuse to share our plenty with those who have nothing. We lose ourselves when we allow the hurts and wounds from life experiences to close our hearts to love.
Who we are is the mystery of creation, the mystery of God’s love manifesting as individual human persons made in the very image of God’s own love and goodness. Who we are is a living expression of this loving, compassionate, kind, forgiving God. Who we are is a call to be the hands, voice, and comfort of God in the world. How easy it is to lose sight of who we are and our mission to bring love and healing to our broken world. How easy it is to forget we are God’s people and lose ourselves in our efforts to be secure, safe, and successful.
Yet God never loses us. God is with us always, waiting for us to wake up and realize who we are. God is ever patient with our weaknesses, ever joyful when we remember who we are and turn to God in gratitude for God’s mercy and love.
Ponder: When have I felt mentally, emotionally, or spiritually lost?
Prayer: Lord, I am grateful for your gentle, guiding ways. Save me from losing myself. Help me to find my way to your heart of goodness.
Practice:
Adapted from Grateful Meditations for Every Day of Ordinary Time (Weeks 23-34)
by Rev. Warren J. Savage and Mary Ann McSweeny (Liguori Publications, © 2013)