One In 7 Billion: Who Are We, Really?
Want to hear something mind-blowing? In the next ten years it’s projected that the world’s population will jump from its current 7 billion to 8 billion people. When we are just one of ever increasing billions, it can be hard to see the value and uniqueness of our life from one day to the next. What value can our one life possibly hold for the world at large? In what way is that value expressed and does it matter? Is our value relative and, if so, to who or what?
The answer to these questions is simple: Our lives, in fact, are invaluable. Yes, we are just one thread in the immense tapestry of life, but each thread is vital and irreplaceable. Becoming fully aware of this will shift our understanding of our infinite value and will change how we live day to day.
To begin understanding our value, the real question to ask is: Who are we?
Our Divine Value
We are children of our Heavenly Parent, and He and She needs us.
Now there’s a statement we don’t hear very often. As infinitely powerful as we believe God to be, God does not have a physical form. He and She yearns to live from our unique perspective, to see the world from our specific pair of eyes, and to love through us.
Father Moon, founder of the Unification faith, teaches: “God created humankind for the sake of love. The reason human beings are different from other forms of creation is that they were created as God’s sons and daughters. We were created to give and receive love directly with God. Such is the privilege of humankind.”
With God as our Parent, we each have divine value that is unique, absolute and unchanging. Our value is infinite and relative to God and vice versa. As Father Moon so succinctly put it: “The value of a partner—of any being as a counterpart—is so great that it cannot be exchanged for anything or anyone, even for God. God cannot exchange it with Himself, for if He did, He would be left alone as a result. He would be left all by Himself.”
Our individual life does have meaning because God’s infinite parental heart wants to experience our life with us—the love, family, growth, accomplishment, all of it! So experience it fully. How do we do this?
Our Value + Love = A Life of Meaning
If we understand the unconditional and never ending significance of our worth, we can better create meaning in our personal lives; we can connect to God on a deeper level, we can feel more inspired to pursue a natural and personal relationship with our Heavenly Parent, and we will desire to live in such a way that God can be welcomed into everything we do. Naturally we also will love others more fully and deeply, recognizing that they are God’s precious children too. What can we start doing, right now, to not only understand but feel our incredible value?
First, we can actively invite God into our life every day. First thing in the morning, we can greet God. No time? Wake up a little early to have an actual conversation with God, and, just as though you are calling up your mother or father, express what you plan to do that day. In doing so we can live who we are: God’s children.
Throughout the day we can remember that our ultimate purpose is to love. When we are feeling stuck or frustrated with another person, we can tell ourselves to love them, no matter what. Even if we need to make a point or express displeasure, we can do so in a loving way or knowing that our ultimate goal is to make that person feel loved and understood. By loving others and creating healthy relationships of love, we are being our true selves, resembling a God who desires love, just as we do.
Finally, we can take time to reflect on and even write down how we are a unique expression of God and why God needs us. Remind others of the God in them, too! If we recognize God in ourselves and others, doesn’t that allow God to come alive to the fullest capacity?
So next time you think, “Wow, I’m only one in a billion,” switch that around to, “Wow, I’m the one and only me in a billion!” God’s Kingdom is a universe made up of individual and unique expressions of God, to and for God—that’s who we can be simply by living in and for the world as our true selves.