Photo courtesy
of George Hodan and PublicDomainPictures.net
“Behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”
“Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as
he is.”
“And
every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”—1 John
3: 1-3 (KJV)
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Who
doesn’t feel broken in these tough times?
At the very least, we wonder when toilet paper will be widely available.
At the most, we’ve lost our job, our health--or even a loved one.
And
those masks…aren’t they uncomfortable? (I have asthma and claustrophobia. I
also wear glasses. That’s three strikes against me. )
So
many aspects of life make us doubt both our current value as well as our
potential. That’s why I want to share the wise thoughts of a relative of mine,
David Schmitt.
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This
past week I watched Disney's "Prince of Egypt," probably the best
movie ever made. However, one scene in particular stood out to me; when a
giant, nomad-priest, Jethro, with forearms bigger than my head, sings a song to
comfort his future son in law, Moses. To provide some sort of backdrop, Moses
had recently escaped into the desert, and fled the comforts and privileges of
his home to become part of Jethro's nomad band.
At
this point Moses was severely doubting his worth and purpose in life, so, to
comfort him, Jethro sings him this A1 slapper. The song is called, and rightly
so, "Through Heavens Eyes". Jethro expresses to Moses via this song
that with our finite mortal vision, we cannot accurately judge our worth or
value. To do so, we must look at ourselves through heaven's eyes.
This
made me think. What do we see when we look at our lives through heaven's eyes?
To
answer this question I had to do some digging. I started with the secular
perspective of worth and value, as determined by economics. Value has 2
separate facets, 'Exchange Value' and 'Use Value'. Both denote different
things. Exchange value is arbitrated by the market. A diamond is obviously more
valuable than a water bottle according to the market. Use Value, however, is
determined by necessity. A diamond, while stranded in a hot desert, is of less
value than a water bottle.
With
these concepts in mind, we can come to better understand what is seen when
"Looking at life through heaven's eyes". We know we are of infinite
value. Being children of the Most High automatically gives us innate worth and
purpose. That is our market or exchange value. It is incalculable.
I
believe however, that it is at the intersection of these two perspectives,
understanding your "exchange value" (infinite) and realizing your
"use value" (potential), that you come to see yourself through
heavens eyes. It is with both that we truly come to understand, and come to be
the person that God sees in us. We come to quite literally see ourselves
through heavens eyes.
My Conclusion
Amen (So be it. I agree.)…Do you agree?
Wonderfully written and such an important message. I taught my children to look at themselves as God sees them. They grew up confidant and without the burden of guilt or condemnation. I will pass this on. Thank you Traci.
ReplyDeleteCarol Graham, thank you for your super kind review! I agree David Schmitt has a way with words. The message is crucial, too, as you said.
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