Consider the cosmos.

13.8 billions years old.

Trillions upon trillions of miles across.

The stars that are even in our view are too numerous to count, and the stars outside of our view? Who even knows?

The One who created all of this, and inhabits all of this, and loves all of this…

Knows you. Searches you.

Follows your journeys and your resting places.

Knows every word you utter before it even crosses your lips.

This One fashioned you, and knew you, when you were in the womb – before even you were aware of you.

That the God who creates and fills the cosmos knows and loves you is a great gift, and a mystery too wonderful for words.

This God fashioned you in the womb, and knows your every thought. And, God knows the other 8 billion people in the world the same way. God knows the people you love in the same way. God knows and cherishes the people you can’t stand in the same way.

Consider how you might behold the people of the world, the people you like, and the people you don’t in the same manner that God beholds them.

Ask God to help soften your heart and mind, opening you up to the same level of love, mercy, and grace that God gives to you.

Resolve to love the people you will encounter in the next hour, the next day, the next week as God Loves them.

Let us pray… Our Father.