Seeing the World with God's Eyes...

At the consultation, a well known seminary professor spoke about immigration and migration issues in America. Using a quote from a book by Dorothy Soelle, entitled 'The Silent Cry', she eloquently reminded us not to overlook the invisible in our midst and of the need for the church to stand by it's call to the ministry of hospitality. She quoted "The theology that liberates, the soul that is united with God sees the world with God's eyes. That soul, like God, sees what otherwise is rendered invisible and irrelevant."

I found this incredibly moving. It was a powerful plea that we not overlook, in the midst of political beliefs about how to tackle immigration issues in America, the deeper call as children of God to not render invisible any other child of God, no matter what their legal status in our country may be.

But it got me thinking beyond that as well. I realised that for much of my life I have also feared being considered 'irrelevant', although in very different ways. We live in an astonishingly goal-oriented society--perhaps the most so in the world--and oftentimes it seems that that which does not directly feed into the achievement of the stated goals is deemed worthless and....irrelevant. And so to protect ourselves some of us render those parts of us...the gentle, vulnerable, loving, dreaming, curious, playful, joyful, beauty-seeking parts of us (and our society) invisible. It affects our theology--some seek salvation in the future but not joy, peace and relationship in the present. It affects our foreign policy--we have often sought to dominate for the implacable sake of 'national security', rather than build painstaking relational platforms of common ground and restorative justice. We see this politically in the now oft spoken of deterioration of civility amongst candidates who eschew discourse with integrity in favor of distortion as means of gaining power-- justified by the supposed great ends once they have this power. It seems that over and over again we are told that future goals are more important than the process we engage in in getting there. But is God not as concerned with our present lives as He is with the future? Is He not as much as part of the process as He is in support of the goal? What if God values beauty as much as reason? Grace as much as intellect? Relationship as much as achievement? Is it God's call to us to render also these areas of our lives--which for many of us are dismissed as irrelevant or not as important as things like reason, intellect and achievement--relevant and visible?

Thanks to God, and to my church community, my own fears of 'irrelevance' are fading. In the church--for the first time in my life--I have found a place where my worth is a given simply by my existence. It would be wonderful if family could provide that, but often it does not. The workplace rarely does. Friendship may come closer, but can also fall short. And yet, while the church is also subject to problems, it is predicated upon the incredible worth of every single individual as a beloved of God--no exceptions. That is true hospitality, to which I think the professor was referring in her speech. That is God's almost unfathomable welcome. I am thankful to her for reminding us that we are called to go forth and extend this same welcome and care to all those we meet, whether they be from another country or next door. And I believe that God will also help us render visible and beloved long forgotten areas of our own hearts and souls, that we may live in an ever increasing abundance of life.