Building a Life for All Seasons – Written by Annie Warner Donnelly
Hello Everyone. No matter when or where we’re born, no matter what circumstances we’re born into, everyone in the world has, at least, two facts in common.
Fact Number 1: God created all of us, barring injury or accident or genetic difficulties, to be born with five senses: the ability to see, to hear, to smell, to taste, and to touch. These remarkable abilities enable us to sense the environment around us: hot in some places, cold in others making it possible for different plants and animals to thrive; and different occupations and cultures to develop.
Our five senses keep safe us from what can harm us. They tell us how tall to make our doors and which foods are safe to eat. Our senses are the source of our feelings like happiness, sadness, grief, depression and pain. Our five senses are valuable to us in multiple ways.
Fact Number 2: Although we’re born not knowing God, we’re born with the capacity to recognize His presence in our lives, to get to know Him, and to develop a personal relationship with Him.
Our senses recognize that, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them, yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4)
Everywhere we look we see what God created for us. He poured His love into everything He created, including us. Because of our ability to see, we can read God’s word in the manuscripts that were created for us. God is love in every language and in every country in the world.
Truly, we do have the capacity to recognize His presence in our lives, to get to know Him, and to develop a personal relationship with Him.
God’s word asks us to get to know our neighbours and to love them as ourself. What would this world look like then? It would look like peace. Amen