God did not create me in replica or anyone other than Him.
There are some very great Saints who live lives that are very profound.
Those Saints inspire me to try harder to live a life that is pleasing to God. But sometimes, those Saints live lives that are so holy that they almost intimidate me and cause me to become completely overwhelmed by the desire to do something more with my life to be pleasing to God.
And I have been thinking about that today because I have been thinking about comparisons. When God made my soul – when He picked it to be created out of all the world in all possible possibilities – when He formed me in this place and at this time, He created me. Me. Me.
He did not create me based on another soul. He did not look at my soul and use something for inspiration. God is no great artist, who relies on the work of someone else as their muse. No. God is more than an artist. He is more than an artisan. He creates me – and He creates you too. And this means that He forms me from nothing. And there is a sort of miracle in that.
Have you ever stopped to reflect on the fact that there are no two identical souls in all the world – of all the millions and billions of souls who were ever created in the entire world? Yes – there may be similar souls. There may be souls of identical twins or triplets. Perhaps their bodies look similar? Perhaps their behaviours or personalities are similar? But their souls – that deep thing inside them that makes then eternally unique and loved by God in perfect love, those souls are unique and different and when God made the one He did not compare and contrast with the others. One twin is not used as a model to replicate the other – so to speak.
John Kanes wrote “All, however, cannot attain to the same degree of sacrifice. There are chosen souls whom God has raised above the ordinary callings of life, who, true to their vocation, show their love for God in heroic self-denial, in total surrender to His will, exulting in the use of all their powers to spread His kingdom. But regardless of disparity of calling, all can be led by the same spirit. It is the spirit, not the measure, of sacrifice that will decide our eternity.”
And I have been thinking about that today. You see, there is no need for a soul like mine to become overwhelmed. For God did not create me in replica or anyone other than Him. For I am made in the Image and Likeness of God and that means that I am formed with only my Lord and Master in mind. And that means that I am loved – perfectly and exactly for exactly the person who I am right now. And there is a sort of miracle in that – a sort of wonderful miracle…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.