Letter to My Child: On Being Human

My Dear Child,

            Let me tell you what it means to be a human being: it means being made in the image of God.  This is a special honor that God has bestowed on humankind alone.  My child, do not forsake this great privilege and treasure the fact that God has formed you in this Way.  For you are called and made to be human, not an unruly animal. 

            You are called to be human; you are called to be godly.  For they are one and the same pursuit…godliness and humanness.  The more you pursue our Lord and Master the more human you will become.  While you pursue God, you will discover godliness.  While you pursue the One in whose image you are made after, you discover the epitome of humanness.  The pursuit is one and the same. 

            Hear and understand the words of our Lord’s servant, Irenaeus:

            “The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and to be alive consists in beholding God.”

            Be alive, then, my child.  Live!

            “For the Lord is your life.” –Deuteronomy 30:20