"For neither doth he see clearly his loving Lord, which is to him full meek and mild, nor doth he see truly what himself is in the sight of his loving Lord. And well I wot when these two are wisely and truly seen, we shall get rest and peace here in part, and the fulness of the bliss of Heaven, by His plenteous grace."
Julian of Norwich (ch. 51)
Humans ask certain "big questions" to find meaning in their lives. Two of the biggest questions are "Who am I?" and "Who is God?" If we can find good answers to these questions, we can find meaning, joy and peace in our lives. One of the effects of the Fall is that these two truths, of who we are and who God is to us, are in a sense forgotten by the human race. We have suffered a memory loss or blindness regarding these most important things. We have been deluded into believing ourselves and God to be different than the truth. We have mistakenly attached the attributes of evil to both ourselves and God, thinking that we are bad, selfish and hurtful, or thinking that God is vengeful, angry or destructive. These false attributes don't belong to God or to us, His children! We have been deluded and have mistakenly lived under these delusions, living out a false identity and beliveing a false identity of God.
Christ came to show us the truth. Being both God and Man, He shows us the face of God, for He is one with the Father; He shows us God is loving, meek and mild. He shows us the face of man, for we are considered Jesus' siblings and part of His family; He shows us we are in the image of God and precious enough to die for. He gives us His eyes to see, His mind to think clearly, freeing us from confusion and healing our blindness. And He simply asks us to side with Him, to align with His viewpoint about us and God. Let's dare to believe in who He says He is: humble and lowly of heart, compassionate and nonjudgmental, kind and all-forgiving, wanting nothing more than to give us His whole kingdom. Let's dare to believe what God believes about us, too: that we are His dear ones, for whom He has great compassion, forgiven of any and all our wrongs, welcomed into His arms like little children. Knowing these truths gives us freedom to love ourselves as basically good people, as well as the confidence to be ourselves before God without fear, opening us up to a wonderful relationship with Him. And we start experiencing the peace and joy of heaven right here on earth!
"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."
John 14:9 (NIV)
"Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters."
Hebrews 2:11 (NIV)
A Prayer: Let me see who You are clearly, and let me see myself through Your eyes.