Chosen

I watched a girl walking down the road on the outskirts of Nairobi.  Dressed in an old, dirty uniform she trudged on to school.  Who knows how long she had been walking.  She shouldered not only her tattered backpack, but the weight of a world too heavy and complicated for a ten year old.  Watching this type of scene before has made me think, “I could be just like her.”  Given if I was born in a different time, different place, different setting.  I had done no more to earn my circumstances at age 10 than she has to earn hers.  That day I had a different thought, however.  Maybe it’s more than that I simply have the capacity to be like her; maybe in a sense I am she.  For in a sense, aren’t we all linked within humanity?  I am she because she is human.  I suffer because she suffers.  I show compassion because she needs compassion.  I love because she is loved.  I was chosen for such a time as this, and so was she.  Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He calls us to love the least of these.  For if Jesus is in every person, and Jesus is in me, than I should behave as if I really believe this.

“‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'  The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:35-40).

This scene made me contemplate why I was chosen to be born where I was.  Why was I granted certain privileges, a certain life, simply for being born?  I could have been born anywhere.  I did nothing to deserve those circumstances.  Should I feel guilty?- I know the answer is no, for how should I feel guilty about the things I can not control?  Should I feel sorrow?- I do feel sorrow for the pain of humanity, but I cannot be weighed down by this sorrow.  I must learn to take in the pain of others and let it pass through me, turning it into peace.  Should I feel unfairness or anger?- But this seems unproductive and what are the standards of fairness?  Who would I direct my anger towards? No, it seems my only option for response is gratitude and responsibility.  Gratitude to God and a sense of responsibility to follow His plan for me.  A sense of responsibility to serve, love, accept, understand.  I sense of responsibility to make the most of the opportunity I was given.

The day after this contemplation I read the following verse.  Isn’t it funny how God answers questions?  I suppose I should stop being surprised by this. 

“...and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.  For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:24-28).

I am called to seek Him.  He wants us to do this even though He is always near.  It’s the process, the journey that He desires: the refinement of our soul.  The result is Him.

This is why I was born where I was.  He desires that I seek Him, reach out for Him, and find Him.  He is with that girl.  He is with me.  We are all chosen.