Introspection: Claimed and Loved

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Claimed and Loved

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Luke 3:21-22 (NRSV)

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth

From "O Holy Night" as translated by John Sullivan Dwight

As I noted previously, my focus for the year is cultivating a sense of self-worth.  My ultimate goal is to be able to say with conviction, "I am enough."  As I began to ponder the subject of self-worth over the last few weeks, I realized that, for Christians, self-worth is connected to baptism.  Baptism means many different things to people.  It is, for many, either a rite of initiation into the Church family or a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ.  I have come to believe that it has important implications for one's identity.

In Jesus' day, baptism was a sign of a person's repentance and commitment to change.  In the Gospel, we read that, when many people were turning back to God, Jesus joined them at the river and was baptized alongside them.  Jesus had no sin from which He needed to turn away, but He wanted to identify with the revival that was taking place at the time.¹  After Jesus was baptized, He stopped to pray, and, as He prayed, the heavens were torn open.  The Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove, and a Voice from Heaven said, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

I believe that, for Jesus' followers, baptism means what it meant for Jesus.  When we are baptized, the Church affirms for us what the Voice from Heaven said to Jesus, that we are beloved children of God with whom God is well pleased.  In other words, God claims us, loves us, and even delights in us.

For my first steps in my search for self-worth, I have adopted a couple of practices.

My first practice is contemplative.  I have started spending a few minutes during my morning prayer time meditating on an affirmation much like the one Jesus heard on the day of His baptism: "You are my child, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."  I meditate on this statement in order to counteract the proverbial tapes that play in my head, repeating, "Not enough."  So often I think that I do not do enough for people and that the reason must be that I am not loving, kind, or generous enough.  I hope that, by regularly reminding myself that God claims me, loves me, and delights in me, I will start to believe that I am enough.

Mike McHargue, known to the world as "Science Mike," suggests in his book Finding God in the Waves that meditating on God's love can actually reprogram a person's brain.  He writes,
In the case of people who meditate on a loving God, the idea of God becomes part of how they process reality - and this has profound effects on their behavior.  When you believe God loves you and loves others, it's easier to take risks to forgive people.  It's not enough to simply believe in God, because only prayer and meditation will turn that belief into a neural network that changes your outlook and behavior.  Even when the news cycle is depressing or a situation in your life seems hopeless, you can hold on to the knowledge that God is with you and that the overall arc of life will work out for the good.²

My second practice is tactile.  Today, the Sunday after Epiphany, is the day that Christians around the world commemorate the Baptism of the Lord.  On this day, Christians approach the baptismal fonts in their churches, dip their hands in the water, and remember with gratitude their own baptisms.  This is a day for us to remember that we are all beloved children of God.  Of course, remembering one's baptism is something one can do more than once a year.  Every Sunday, I pass by the baptismal font on my way into the sanctuary at my church.  I have decided to make it a weekly practice to remember my baptism by dipping my hand into the water and making the sign of the cross on my forehead.

Whether or not you are baptized, I pass along to you, the reader, the same affirmation I have been trying to internalize.  You are a child of God, whom God dearly loves, and with whom God is well pleased.  Consider the magnitude of this statement.  You are a speck on a planet called Earth.  Earth itself is but a speck in a galaxy called the Milky Way.  The Milky Way is a speck in the vastness of the universe.  The Creator of this universe claims you, loves you, and delights in you, a speck on a speck in a speck.

If that is not a reason to have some self-worth, I do not know what is.


Notes:

1. William Barclay.  The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Luke.  2001, Saint Andrew Press.  p. 45
2. Mike McHargue.  Finding God in the Waves: How I Lost My Faith and Found It Again Through Science.  2016, Convergent Books.  p. 177

The photograph featured in this introspection was taken by Roger Sigouin and has been released to the public domain.  The author is in no way affiliated with this blog.