Father,
Thank you for the gloriously packed minibusses that travel longer distances at night. I'm wearing my mother's thick gabi, which is perfect for the weather.Â
I notice all the people staring at us because of the pale foreigner with me and my classmate. The guy came from his German university to do his internship at ours. But unlike us, he endures a lot of gawking and a higher risk of robbery on his way home. Â
Now, growing up, I remember staring at the women who didn't wear the traditional black dress—the abaya—while roaming the Saudi malls I frequented with my family. Even I, a child of two non-Muslim foreigners, wore my abaya outside my house.Â
I picked my silky abaya myself, and just by wearing it, I blended in with everybody else.
But the young man riding the minibus home with us can't help with the staring problem. No matter how many years he stays here, he'll probably always be stared at like that. We don't have a lot of folks who look like him in this part of the planet.Â
But while we talk about so many races, You know of only two. The race of Adam and that of the Second Adam; Christ.Â
In the end, the minibus dropped the young man off near his house, and I hopped off at the final stop to catch up to the Bible Study I go to.Â
A short while into the session, Zegeye, who moderates the Bible study, tried to explain something using an analogy he often uses.Â
He talked about how we expect every child to grow into an adult human.Â
We don't expect a child to morph into a different creature altogether. So, by extension, he talked about how a spiritual child will grow into a fully grown spiritual adult—and unto the stature of Christ. That's inevitable.
St. Paul also used this analogy in one of his letters to describe different levels of spiritual growth.Â
Zegeye went on to say something along the lines of:Â
I have the capacity to love and forgive like Jesus—this is one claim. I have the capacity to sin like Adam is another claim. Now, which statement should we claim and train our tongue with?Â
Even when a mother is teaching her child how to walk, and the child starts crying, she says, 'You can. You can walk.'Â
Now, if a three-year-old child sits down and says that they can't walk, what can the mother do? She would get frustrated. Then she may probably go to a doctor and ask about the psychology of a young child.'
But, if a malicious housemaid comes along and tells the child, 'You can't walk. And you'll have to urinate in your pants. You are stupid', how would the mother feel?
This is how we've been treated and talked to, though. We're told, 'You are a baby. You can't pray. I'll pray for you. You can't talk to God. I'll talk to God for you.'
But the Holy Spirit does the opposite. He comes, picks us up, and says, 'You can.'Â
You have the seed of Christ. You are a branch of Christ, as Jesus is a trunk. You have the capacity to have the fruit of Christ.Â
We might mistake it with modesty when we claim otherwise, but it's frustrating to Him when we do that.Â
In this realm, we receive your Spirit by faith, but we always have the same old body. At first, we're spiritual babies, and as Your Spirit guides us, we grow into maturity. But because all we and everyone around us sees is this flesh, it might sound like we're claiming to be something we're not. When we first accept Christ's invitation for a new life, we don't suddenly feel like a German kid going through the streets of Addis Ababa. We could blend in with our surroundings the way I did by wearing my abaya in Saudi Arabia.
But just because we can't see it, it doesn't mean that we're not an entirely new creature inside—ready to grow with the Holy Spirit's guidance.
You know all folks' hearts, Father, and among people, You know which one is still a spiritual child, and which one had grown a bit more.Â
Whether I'm staggering or looking to gain nutrition through Your Word, my intentions and actions are clear to You. You know this new creature better than I know myself.Â
So help me and everyone in that Bible Study grow to the stature you called us to, and remember the promise of the complete reflection St. Paul had written about. Now we only see our new selves in dirty mirrors.
But one day, this identity shall be revealed in full with all Your glory.Â
Now, we see each other speak, catch diseases and react to stimuli. But thank You for everything that comes after that, for the time when all would be revealed to and through us.Â
Thank You for Your Glory, which we can't help but stare at and marvel at, even while we're here.Â
I know my Bible Study group, and I have been dwelling on this identity topic for a long time, but there is much to learn here. Identity in Love: what an absurd thing for this mind.Â
Again, thank You for this awesome absurdity.Â
Love,Â
-w
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 NKJV