Dear Kaleid Ladies,
You were made in love. Because God is Trinity, to be made in God’s image is to be made for relationship. Because God is Trinity, to be made in God’s image means that we each have a unique purpose within in our relationships to others and to the world.
You have a purpose that looks just like you and only like you, living in love.
And so, when we read sin’s origin story in Genesis 2-3, it makes sense that the first thing to be broken by the serpent’s distorted presentation of self and God is relationship. We read of Adam and Eve’s mistrust, blame, fear, hiding, judgment, denial—wounding relational realities that show up almost immediately.
Alongside Adam and Eve, we instinctively hide. We self-protect. We assume. We judge. We blame.
And, in time, we get confused, believing that God is coming for us to shame us rather than to call us out of hiding and cover us. We imagine that our perception is truth, and we become blind to our own limits. We imagine that our shame is truth, and we become blind to our own dignity.
We need our sight back.
We need our shame lifted.
We need to be healed so that we can live freely into our relational, unique purpose from a secure and open place rather than from a fearful and defensive place.
In Jesus, God visits humanity, powerfully restoring sight and lifting shame. Praise God!
But there is something more subtle going on, too. Paul names Jesus “the firstborn of Creation.” Jesus takes us back to the beginning and shows us what humanity free from sin looks like. He shows us what it means to be fully human, because he is also fully divine.
When we look at Jesus living into his purpose, we can see a human being embracing their own dignity. Jesus is beloved by God and Jesus believes in and lives from that loved place. He is secure.
And, when we look at Jesus living into his purpose, we can see a human being embracing their own limits. Jesus is one man, removed from centers of power, with twelve good friends and a mis-understanding family, constrained by geography, technology, and very short life. Jesus lives inside of his very real limits, loving God, self, and others from an open place anyway. Yes, he does miracles, but he does not push past his own limits to be other than who he is, where he is. He is free to be himself.
Jesus knew he was made in love.
He knew that the human reality would tempt him toward mistrust, fear, judgment, blame, hiding, and resignation. But his “eye was clear” and he trusted love instead of shame, and so his purpose was wholly accomplished.
As we follow Jesus today, may we find that we can see more clearly and receive love more deeply so that we, too, can live into our dignity and our limits as we enter the risks of love that are before us.
For Reflection:
When you think of your limits, or of your constraining reality, what comes to mind?
When you think of your dignity, or your unique beauty, what comes to mind?
Spend some time with the story of Jesus’ baptism in Matthew. Ask God to speak to you his interaction with the firstborn of Creation, Jesus, about what it looks like to live from a secure and open place today.
Lastly, enjoy this quote from the Hasidic tale of Rabbi Zusya:
“When he was an old man, Zusya said, ‘In the coming world, they will not ask me: ‘Why were you not Moses?’, They will ask me ‘Why were you not Zusya?’”.
We are so glad you’re you!
Gratefully,
The Kaleid Team
P.S. We are having a workshop on April 15th with Elizabeth Payne, a StrengthsFinder coach. She is going to lead us through the results of our StrengthsFinder assessments and help us consider how our strengths inform our relational purpose in God’s world.
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