I want to give to you

Father Bill Kottenstette always told us to think of the person in the world who loves us best -- we could know from their visible love for us that God loves us at least that much and more and more perfectly, because God is God. The same, he said, is true for the person in the world we love best -- we know God loves us and them at least that much and more and more perfectly. I always loved that and still think back on it, especially when I need to be reminded with physical evidence of the love of an invisible God. We are sacramentals for each other; as the body of Christ and as images of God, we help each other see and believe the love God has for us.

A few days ago, I was reminded of this love yet again while I painted rocks with my godson and his brothers. They are some of my favorite people in the world, and we always have fun together. After we were finished painting, they each decided to give me one of the rocks they had made, so they told me to pick one from each of their creations.

"I don't want to take your favorite one," I said. "Why don't each of you pick out the one you want to give to me, so I don't take the one you like best?"

They each selected one and gave them to me, one at a time. A few minutes later, after his brothers had left the room, my godson, who is six years old, tapped me on the side and said, "That rock was my favorite one, but I wanted to give it to you." Then, he hugged me.

And in that, I realized: This is how our God loves us. He doesn't withhold the best from us to keep for himself; he makes things that are beautiful, that he puts all of his effort into, and that he genuinely loves -- things that matter to him -- and he gives them away to us. So that we are delighted. So that we have the best. So that he can set aside his own desire to have what is good so we can enjoy and know we are loved. "I want to give to you," he says, and he does it out of desire, not obligation. Because in this is love, to lay down one's life for one's friends.

And in this giving of good, good gifts, our God wants us to receive. He considers us worthy to have what he has worked hard on, to have his very best. While we might choose what is less because we aren't sure if we deserve what is best or think someone else is more worthy, our God wants us to live from our identity as a daughter or son of the King, from the deep knowledge that we are provided for, that our requests are considered with utmost importance and that we are delighted in. Our God wants us to see what he sees when he looks at us: someone who is worthy. It delights him to delight us.

I pray we can look at the ways people genuinely love us and be assured our God loves us at least that much and more and more perfectly. And that we can also be the visible sign of our God's love to those we encounter, showing them we want to give this priceless and free gift to them, and that yes, they are worthy.