Whenever someone takes their Christian faith seriously they discover that there are parts of our faith that are difficult to live and put into practice. Living out our Christiaan faith is not about what I am willing to put forth. It is all about living up to the demands that God makes of his people.
God is not indifferent to the way that we humans treat each other. We are very reluctant to try to express the anger in the heart of God over the way that human beings bomb each other in war. Is not God angry when Russian bombs hurt and destroy the lime and the home of a little Ukranian grandmother?
Is not God joyful when two teen age boys rush forward to lift an elderly person who has slipped on the ice while trying to board the city bus to go downtown?
Now the first part of divine revelation is in the act of creation when God has made woman and man in the image of God. Each human being carries within their very body, the sign, the value and the love of the Creator God. Each and every human being, no matter how limited, carries the very image of God.
When we reflect on how well the parts of our body function ,we are amazed that each one of is a living miracle. Reflect on the functioning of your kidneys. They work twenty-four hours of day removing excess water from our blood and all sorts of wastes from our blood stream. They keep us incredibly healthy – twenty-four hours a day.
Are you not a living miracle?
\Now the difficult part is recognizing that every human being is a walking, talking image of God. There are no exceptions. No matter what color their skin, what age, how brilliant and competent they are, no matter how mobile or immobile they are or no matter how intellectually function they are. This one is the image of God!
Every day we are confronted with this challenge. As we live and work with people who are different from ourselves, we are being challenged to see the image of God in the other. We are called to respect and treat with kindness the divine image in the other.
Jesus challenges us in the Last Judgement (Mt. 25, 31-46). When we come before God the risen Jesus does not say “you did good to another.’ Rather Jesus identifies with the action towards our fellow human being. “I was hungry and you gave me food.” All good done to another is good done toward the Son of God.
Daily life is a challenge to see the image of God in the other.
How wonderful that our Christian faith challenges us to live, breath and walk like the Son of God!
