GOD DOES NOT HAVE FAVOURITES

For some people God not having favourites is a complete turn-off. They want to be the favourites. They want favoured treatment. They want to be recognized. They want to be upgraded on every flight they board. They want the best seat in the theatre and the restaurant. They want to be ushered through customs top of the line. If they were Pope they would live in the papal apartments, none of this living in a unit in an apartment block.

If I am not receiving privileged treatment that no one else receives then why should I put myself out in any way? If I am not being paid at a higher level than anyone else why should I worry about the quality of the work I do.

These thoughts have us in a universe that is ego-centric: I am at the centre in the way the sun is the centre of our solar system. Everything in the system is to revolve around me and all acclaim is to be given to me. If it is not given to me then my output if any will be very meagre indeed.

Thinking of the sun and desiring to be the favoured one of God in preference to all others is a good starting point for reflection and the chance to wean ourselves off this desire if it has taken some hold on us.

The sun shines and brings us light and warmth. The light and the warmth comes to us if we are standing in a paddock all alone. If we are joined by a friend the light and warmth still comes but now it comes to both of us. There is no drop in intensity of light and warmth because I am not alone. If we are then joined by a thousand people, once again there is light and warmth for each of them as there was for me when I was there on my own. I can see clearly because of the light and I am no longer cold because there is warmth aplenty.

The starting point for our ascendancy from selfishness and greed to selflessness and generosity, from the destructiveness of beastly behaviour to the creativity of human behaviour, is our acceptance that God loves us first. We do not start with our love for God. That comes as a response to our first being loved.

We can bring light and warmth to others because we have first received light and warmth. Just as standing in the paddock with a great crowd saw no diminishment in the light or warmth we received because there were many, so too God’s love is not depleted by there being many of us who are loved and cared for. God’s love can never be exhausted. There will come a time when our sun dies and its light and warmth will be no more. But there will never be a time when God dies and the divine light and warmth will be no more. Bask in God’s love and commit yourself to sharing it with all you meet. The fact you are not the only one loved like this makes not a scrap of difference to what you can share.

Fr Adrian Farrelly