There is Something Exceptional About You
Recently, my youngest daughter was adding color to something she had drawn. Not only was the drawing quite good for a toddler, but her selection of shade and color was equally impressive. For whatever reason, she decided to erase her selection of shade and color, only to have her older sister tell her, “put that color back, the picture is not the same without it.” That got my attention, because she was right. Something that was once there (color), adding beauty to what was already there (drawing), was suddenly gone. This had me thinking about the spiritual life and our call to add “color” to what is already there in the Kingdom of God.
We have been given a gift in the Kingdom of God and we have something to give in return, ourselves. By turning our lives over to the Kingdom of God, we add something that would otherwise not be seen.
God speaks to us: “I created you because you can manifest Me like no one else…I am putting something in you that is original, an exceptional particularity--a detail that is unrepeatable.”
The uniqueness of who we are in the image of God bursts forth when the power of Christ lives within us. In other words, Christ’s singular beauty draws out the beautiful detail of who God desires us to become. The deeper we go into the sacramental mystery of Christ, the more we become the person God intended us to be, because God is in us! Christ fills us up with His grace that we would fulfill our purpose of manifesting God in who we are and what we do.
Conversely, without Christ, our uniqueness goes unseen. If we do not embrace the gift of being in relationship with the God-Man Jesus Christ, then a part of what is beautiful in God’s mystical body of Christ will never be revealed. This is striking! Imagine the most beautiful thing you have ever seen, missing something. One of my favorite places to visit is Yosemite National Park. There is an area in the Valley where you get a view of Yosemite Falls with Half Dome in the background. The view is breathtaking. It captivates me every time. I cannot imagine such beauty without Yosemite Falls or Half Dome, and yet, this is what we have (and even more), when we decide not to fulfill our purpose in life by magnifying God in who we are and what we do.
Culture today needs our distinct gift, our Christian uniqueness. There are many people in the world today who desire to be different, but instead of turning to God to give meaning to their lives, they pivot toward the world for answers and are left empty. Our uniqueness abides in the soul and must be attended to by God. We become holy if we walk in the presence of God and allow Him to “set us apart” (actual meaning of holiness). Our holiness is a manifestation of God’s holiness living within us. And this manifestation of holiness ought to be an encouragement and invitation for others to discover their wholly uniqueness in Christ (holiness).
When my oldest daughter told my youngest daughter that her picture was not the same without the original color, I was powerfully reminded that each of us have a “color” to add to the Christian canvas, the distinct “color” of our potential in Christ; our potential when we allow Christ to invade our souls through and through!