We can experience God in the most unexpected persons and places. Awaken to the holiness of all creatures, and you will experience blessings as you bless others.
“Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25: 40) In a relational world, Jesus’ words are more than metaphorical. They describe our relationship with God and the world in which we live. What we do really matters to God. God is not a distant observer, but an intimate companion. God experiences everything we do first-hand as shaping God’s own experience of the universe.
Mother Teresa saw her vocation as “doing something beautiful for God” and that is our calling, too. Spirituality is profoundly this-worldly. It is about beauty and transformation. We love the creator by loving the creatures. Accordingly, the primary ethical question is “What kind of world are you going to give God? Will you give God a world of beauty or a world of ugliness?” This involves not only our interpersonal relationships but creating structures of beauty as citizens. These structures of beauty, whether in terms of quality education, health care, adequate employment, and just distribution of resources, enable people we may never meet have an opportunity to experience God’s abundant life.
Alfred North Whitehead describes God as “the fellow sufferer who understands.” God also rejoices in our successes, healing, and personal growth. We are always on holy ground, always given the opportunity to bring beauty and joy to the universe. Let us do something beautiful God as individuals and citizens.
Today, I invite you to do something beautiful for God by living the following affirmations:
I do something beautiful for God in every encounter.
I experience God’s presence in the least of these.
I do something beautiful for God (in a particular situation).
I bring forth God in (in a particular encounter).
In the course of the day, take time to learn about vulnerable persons in your community. Discover ways that you can bring beauty to their lives either directly or indirectly – in volunteer activity or social action.
Bruce Epperly is a theologian, spiritual guide, healing companion, retreat leader and lecturer, and author of nineteen books, including Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living; God’s Touch: Faith, Wholeness, and the Healing Miracles of Jesus; and Tending to the Holy: The Practice of the Presence of God in Ministry. He may be reached at [email protected].
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