You are YOU!

You are YOU!
Mario D’Couto SDB

            It was once said by Albert Einstein that God does not play dice and applying this in the context of creation, we can say that God has certainly not created junk, especially in the case of the human person. Each of us is unique and we are unique for a purpose. Each one’s purpose is very different from the other. Even if it is the same, it would be executed differently. In this regard, I would like to share a poem by Russell Kelfer which deeply impressed me,

You are who you are for a reason
You are part of an intricate plan.
You are a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God’s special woman or man.
You look like you for a reason
Our God made no mistake
He knit you together within the womb,
You are just what He wanted to make
The parents you had were the ones He chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind,
And they bear the Master’s seal.
No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into His likeness you’d grow.
You are who you are for a reason,
You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God!

            Just imagine if our food had to have only one particular ingredient like for example, if there only had to be salt in it, it would be salty or if it had to be only chilies, then it would be spicy. A good dish is therefore a perfect balance of all ingredients and that is what makes one’s food tasty. Another example that comes to my mind is that of the garden. In a garden, there are so many different flowers and plants. If all had to be of the same colour, size, fragrance and so on, we would not know what is good, better or best. If in a choral piece, everybody had to be singing on the same voice, it would be nice but it would not be as rich as it would be if there were different voices like the sopranos, bases, tenors and the altos, where when sung harmoniously soothes the mind and the heart.

            All these examples go to show that variety is, indeed, the spice of life. In as much as each individual retains his or her identity, each individual has the potency to contribute to the welfare of society. As I reflect on this issue in the context of one’s pastoral ministry, I believe that God has uniquely called and shaped each of us in different ways to reach different people. If God has called one to be a pastor then that means that there must be people somewhere in the world whom one can reach better than anyone else.

            Some pastors relate best to highly educated intellectuals and other pastors relate better to simple, common folk. Both groups need Christ and both need a pastor who understands them and loves being with them. Thus, if the members and the pastor don’t match, there will probably be just an explosion without growth. Many Church conflicts are caused by mismatched leaders. Placing the wrong type of leader in a Church is like mismatching jumper cables on a car battery. By doing so, sparks are bound to fly. A godly man in the wrong place would perhaps only produce mediocre results.

            Today we hear of so many suicide cases and the reasons for such drastic measures are numerous though some of the common ones are depression, failure in life and the loss of zest to go ahead in one’s life. What many fail to realize is that to despise oneself is to insult the ONE who made him or her. Who are we to take our own lives?     
           


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