Sixty seconds? Just a minute!

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well. --Psalm 139:14

One of the many wonderful pages to which I subscribe on Facebook offered this Sabbath activity: 

"Take one minute and ponder the wonder of you."

What a great idea. As pastors everywhere offered lectionary sermons today on Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), many of us have stopped and thought about how busy busy busy our lives have become, and where-- or when-- could we ever find time to simply spend time in Sabbath, in restful presence of the Lord?

Hmm. How about . . . now. Take just one minute (or more) and ponder the creation that is you and no one else. 

Start there. Think about the fact that there is no one just like you, and never will be. You are unique among all the humans ever created. 

* * * * *
Look at your hand. Notice the lines that crisscross your palm. Slowly bend and straighten your fingers and feel-- really feel the muscles working together. Don't focus on the pain or stiffness that may come with age (there, I said it), but on the way the palm muscles fold as the back-of-the-hand muscles stretch.

Your fingerprints. One of a kind. No one else has ever had those exact whorls and swirls that identify you. Years ago, I cut my middle finger quite badly, and the scar is still evident-- but the fingerprint remains. 

A palm reader could tell you about your lifeline and your heart line-- each special and unique (and I am pretty sure each palm reader's analysis is special and unique, as well)! The secrets of each one of our identities, carefully enswathed in the palms of our hands. 

Pretty amazing, eh?

* * * * *
Your legs. Your feet. The way those bones and muscles operate, allowing us to walk and to skip and to run (and sometimes, to fall flat-- but to get up again)! Every element of your body, in perfect design.

Oh, sure, there are times the design seems less-than-perfect. And I have no explanation to offer. So ponder for a moment the "real" you, the essence of who you are. The indomitable expression of your true self that goes beyond any physical appearance. Some would say . . . your soul. 

And a beauty it is, too. Designed to love, perfected in creation by the Almighty. Even if you have an identical twin, no one has your smile, your laugh, your sense of humor.

No one.

* * * * *
Take a look at your hair. Straight or curly, blonde, black, blue or grey-- or missing-- the Almighty took inventory of every hair on your head-- he cares that much!

And if you are at all like me . . . there will be days when there is very little about my hair that makes me happy. God, it's so humid today-- my hair just goes flat! Lord, when did all those grey ones show up? Ack!!

And I will walk outside, and a gentle breeze will grab one of those droopy, grey strands and move it around a little, and on my best days, that breeze will remind me of the Spirit that blows where it will, loves me no matter what kind of hair day I am having. (You, too.)

* * * * *
And your face. Your beautiful, perfect face. Maybe it bears the lines that tell of a life well-lived: lines from tears wept in heartache or loss, creases from spending time in laughter with good friends. Maybe, over the years, acne or injuries have left their mark. Still-- you are beautiful, inside and out. 

Perfect.

People look at a newborn baby and exclaim, "Oh she looks just like Aunt Martha!" "He has his father's nose-- and those ears! Just like his dad at that age!"

Or not.

Truth is, you do have your Father's eyes. And his sense of humor. And that nose-- well, your heavenly Father designed it, for sure. So yes, you even have your Father's (or Mother's) nose.

And no matter how much it resembles someone else's-- it's all yours. You are a unique, wonderful, perfect creation. Unlike any other, ever.

And the same is true for every person you will ever meet, regardless of race, or religion, or gender-- or anything else. Each person, deeply and wholly beloved of God.

That. Is. So. Cool.

So the next time life is beating you up (or down), stop. Take a breath-- there's another wonder-- and reflect on who you are and Whose you are. Rest in the knowledge that you are God's own beloved.

Psalm 139

Gracious, ever-creating God, thank you for each person, for their beauty and uniqueness. Help me, Lord, to love and appreciate myself-- and each Child of yours-- for the wondrous, fearfully made creation we are. Amen