I learned something new today! I was pondering the word unique, and when I looked it up in my Webster's 1828 dictionary it wasn't listed. I turned to the internet and discovered that unique dates back to the 17th century but wasn't used much until the end of the 18th century when it was acquired from the French.
Unique: being the only one of its kind, unlike anything else.
When I looked up synonyms these words popped up: eccentric, erratic, odd, outlandish, peculiar, quaint, singular, and strange. All of these words mean 'departing from what is ordinary, usual, or to be expected'; unique implies singularity and the fact of being without a known parallel. Merriam-Webster.com. Some of those synonyms seem particularly negative to me. I would much rather be called unique than peculiar. 😊
All of us are unique in one way or another. Though we may try to conform or fit into a norm, each of us is a 'one of a kind' with our thoughts and being. I have a piece of artwork in my den that I love. I bought it at a small gift shop so many years ago that I don't even remember where or when. It has been displayed, since acquiring it, in a place where I see it daily.
The wording: I've always liked the time before dawn because there's no one around to remind me who I'm supposed to be. So it's easier to remember who I am.
Before Dawn 2001 (I can't read the artist's signature).
I find it easier to 'be me' in my older age. It took a long time to get here! Sometimes I still fall into the comparison trap, or I feel like I must dress or act as others expect me to. This morning I continue to think about Mary. Did she struggle with who she was? Did she sit in the early morning and ask God, "Why me?" Did she ponder the task she was given as the mother of Jesus and feel inadequate?
One of my favorite passages is Psalm 139:13-14 You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous - how well I know it. NLT
Just like Mary, each of us has a purpose ordained for us by God. He created each of us to be a unique 'one-of-a-kind' person with gifts and talents that are solely ours. Most of us have stored away our Christmas decorations for another year. We are down to the last few days of this Christmas season. The visit from those wise men will be acknowledged, but that, too, will be packed away in our memory as we journey through 2023. I'm sure Mary questioned what God saw in her to choose her as the mother of Jesus. I'm also sure that others questioned that as well.
Challenge: Ponder today what makes you unique. What does God see in you that you or others may not see? Take time today to embrace who God created you to be, and show yourself to the world.
Prayer: Thank you, God, for making me just as I am. Help me to flourish in how You created me to be. Help me not to follow the world's ways but to follow You alone. May my boldness point others to You and cause them to find their identity in You. Help me to see what You have chosen for me to do, and then let me have the faith of Mary to complete it. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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