The remarkable qualities of a
hazelnut may be few. But there are these:
“In this
little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second,
that he loves it. And the third, that God keeps it.”
~Julian of Norwich (1342–1416)
And as the anchoress of the church
and mystic pondered in the sight of that little round nut in her hand, she
noted what is remarkable about all made things; humans as a case in point.
1. The Miracle In Being Made By God
Many take for granted the fact of
their being. Many, indeed, curse the day of that fact—that they came into
being. We all, from time to time, resonate with these. Life hurts much, and
much too much at times. Consolation is in many forms of modern anaesthesia. But
the Christian’s consolation is in God; to be made by the Lord of Creation is no
small miracle. If one hazelnut can be celebrated, how much more should one
human being?
Perhaps the most remarkable
miracle in being made by God is the length of one life in consideration of the
length of one day. So many days we typically get; each one made by the Lord.
Everything the Lord makes is a
miracle.
2. The Miracle In Being Loved By God
We are sustained by God. We are
his craftsmanship and there is, therefore, special ownership. What is owned is
loved. And how much more is a thing loved that has its own God-acknowledged and
decisive spirit?
That God loves us, beyond any
human rejection, is a miracle. Nothing and nobody can deprive us of this love.
It’s a fact of being human; an organismic creation of the Divine. And how much
more evidence is there of being loved than of being kept by God?
3. The Miracle In Being Kept By God
We are God’s for all eternity,
made and chosen to be loved beyond our will or satisfaction. What God has made
and has loved God will keep—at least here on earth. If it is the case that
those that reject God will themselves be rejected, an irrefutable thesis for
the Christian, then those kept by God who do not wish to be kept (beyond this
life) may be disposed into the land of hell. But that is beside the present
point.
There’s inherent importance in
knowing that, because we are made in the image of God, and that we are chosen
to be loved by the Creator, it is the Lord’s eternal desire to keep us. And the
fight to keep us into eternity prevails evermore now in the spiritual realm.
Though Divine desire cannot be contested, we, by God’s love, can agree to let
go and, consequently, not go—and into an abyss beyond God’s relevance we may
go.
Those kept of God—in taking their
possession of salvation into eternity—were made, are loved, and will be kept
for the entirety of their eternal existence. At no time, and in no way, did God
not know them. There could not be a more celebrated fact.
***
These three miracles of God we can
be thankful for: we were made, and are loved, and will be kept by the Lord. The
first two are facts whether we like them or not. The last one is dependent on
us. Do we accept what God has done for us?
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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