Hello, dear reader, how are you today?  Or maybe my question should be, is anybody out there today?  You see, its the age old dilemma, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to witness it and to hear it fall, does it really fall and does it make a sound?  If I write this and there is no one to read it,  did I really write it and does it make a difference?  That is key, I think.  We all want to matter, we all want to make a difference to at least someone, somewhere, some of the time.  We look for our value reflected in another’s gaze.  We all want to be heard.  We all need to be known.

When I started this blog, I didn’t think it would matter if anyone read it or not, I just needed to write.  But I was wrong, already I can see that I was.  It does matter to me, connection matters to me;  you, unknown reader matter to me.  How can this be?  I’m not quite sure. The irony is, I am not now, nor have I ever been on any social media of any kind.  (remember I told you in an earlier post that my technical skills are sadly lacking.  more like non-existent).

But I dare say that many of us live feeling faceless in a face book world.  Face book has replaced the face to face and left us longing for more than it can provide.  Without the personal interaction of conversation in real time with real people, about what’s really on our minds and in our hearts, we are left isolated and alone.  Alone with the images all our “friends” have created for themselves on face book to keep us company.   But, these images do not hear us and these images do not know us.  And what’s more, we cannot hear them and we cannot know them.  For it is both,  we want to hear another’s story and to be heard ourselves.  We need to know another person as well as be known by them.  We were created for community.  We were created for relationship.

In first Corinthians 13:12 it says, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”  Isn’t that what we all want, to be fully known?   Implied in that concept of being “fully known” is the idea of being seen clearly as you are, for who you are and in that recognition being fully understood and fully accepted.  How many times do we feel invisible, or when visible then misunderstood?  Too many times I would guess.  So with whom can we experience this gift of being fully known?

There is One who knows us better than we know ourselves.  The One who “knit each one of us together in our mother’s womb”.  Our Creator, who calls each star by name also knows my name and your name.  Indeed, our names are engraved on the palms of His hands.  Matthew 10:30 says, “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”  Psalm 139:4 says, “Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O Lord.”  Job 23:10 says, “But He knows the way that I take;”.  We are known and understood by God, our Creator.  No one is invisible to Him.  No one is unheard by Him. “not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from His notice.”  and “I will be found by you, declares the Lord.”

With this knowing comes God’s acceptance of us,  “He has compassion on all He has made.”,  the Bible tells us.  1 Samuel 16:7  tells us, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  I’m thinking it should be “heart book” instead of face book.  But we don’t have the discernment necessary to pull that off.  (besides, all the pictures would look the same except to cardiologists).  and where’s the fun in that?

This knowledge, that we are fully known, understood, accepted and heard by our Creator could help each of us in turn to make the attempt to understand, accept and hear those who are present with us in our daily lives.  We are not invisible to our God, we are seen and we are heard.  We matter to Him.  “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  . . . So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”   Matt. 10:29-31

Well, the tree has fallen, the cry has gone out, from my heart to yours. Hold on to your mustard seed of faith, extend mercy to everyone you meet.  May your mountains be moved and your miracles be many.

sincerely,              Grace Day