Wednesday, May 4, 2022

God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature…  God created human beings; he created them godlike, reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.” (Genesis 1: 26 -28, The Message Bible)

                 I am not a robot. Check.

                Most of us have encountered that computer prompt when we are using the Web. Before we can get on-line with whatever website, we are asked to prove that we are not a robot. Once we check that “I am not a robot” box, we can proceed. Apparently, a sign or proof of our humanity is our singular ability to check a box. I wish it was always that easy.

                Mind you, when it comes to social media there are no guarantees that we are who we say we are. Identity theft happens. I have received several bogus Facebook messages from people whom I know but in actual fact somebody is piggy-backing on those folk’s accounts and are trying to run a scam of some sorts, “selling” me something. As soon as I read a plain “Hello” or “How are you?”, I am pretty sure that it isn’t the person I know.

               So it was not surprising that recently, a Facebook contact reached out to me and asked whether I really was who I said I was. I claimed that it was really me, but I am not sure that really proves anything about who I really am.

             Who is the authentic me? Who is the authentic you?

“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” (Psalm 139:14, New Living Translation)

We have been created with the divine spark as part of our DNA. This blend of humanity and divinity is unique. God has shared something of himself in each of us. God’s Creative goodness abides in each of us. Our human nature is blessed by God’s genius. “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?  Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority…” (Psalm 8: 3 – 6, NLT)

With great humanity comes great responsibility.

We are responsible for the stewardship of our lives and the world around us. If Christ is in us as God is in us, then the best should come out of our living. To be authentically human is to love one another as we are loved by God. To be authentically human is to care for this fragile planet we live on. To be authentically human is to engage evil with goodness, justice and peace. To be authentically human is to experience joy, laughter, pleasure, satisfaction in the blessings we have. To be authentically human is this: “The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6|:8 NLT)

We don’t always get this right all the time. That’s being human, too. Jesus Christ, fully human, came to help us with trying to get this part of our humanity right with God. “That’s why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people’s sins, he would have already experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed.” (Hebrews 2:19, The Message Bible)

“Living for Jesus a life that is true, Striving to please him in all that I do. Yielding allegiance, glad hearted and free, This is the pathway of blessing for me.” (T. O. Chisolm)

Dale