I imagine that one could wake up in the morning, grab a phone or get on the computer, and read the news continuously until bedtime without reading a single story twice. Technology and media have increased our knowledge of events around the world, both large and small, so that now more than ever we are aware of our small place in a broader global society. The benefits of this are obvious: we can place events in a larger context, we can offer support and solidarity to those suffering thousands of miles away, and we can break out of a myopic vision of ourselves as the center of the universe. Yet within this global awareness a question naturally arises when we begin to compare our personal struggles with what we see in the news: are my problems even important compared to the vast suffering occurring throughout the world? Does God care about my seemingly minor personal challenge in the face of global war, famine, and poverty?
The conclusion from today’s first reading in Isaiah offers a helpful insight into the Christian view of this question. The Lord says through the prophet, “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.” The provocative claim of the Israelites, continued by Christianity, is that the same God who created the entire world, the stars, the galaxies, and the universe cares for each of us with the intimate warmth a mother has for her child. From our human perspective, we often project our limitations onto God: God must either be so large as to only be concerned with large-scale suffering around the world or so limited as to only be concerned with my particular problems. Our faith, however, has broken through this false dichotomy: because God is all-powerful and transcendent, there is no competition for God’s attention. Thus, God does not care just a little about certain things and more about others: he only cares and loves perfectly. The question for us, then, is no longer of comparison, but of facing the suffering in our lives and the lives of others throughout the world with the same love God has given us through Christ. In this way, we will begin to shed the limits we’ve placed on God and will accept his motherly embrace.
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