Numbers 6:25-26

The title of today\’s post immediately took me here:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipc9pL27krs[/embedyt]

But of course, I digress.

The question: How does it make me feel to know that the Creator of the Universe smiles on me with grace and mercy?

Awestruck, dumbfounded, and humbled are the first thoughts that come to mind. 

Then, I\’d love to ask: Who, me? The one who falls short daily hourly? The one who is judgmental, snarky, negative, and who, to quote a character name from the movie Life, Can\’t Get Right?

There is fear in knowing the Creator smiles on me because that means the Creator is watching me. If the Creator does so with grace and mercy, it is most likely because I am in need of grace and mercy:

• when I cannot give it to others, the Creator gives it through me;
• when I don\’t want to show it, the Creator shines before me;
• when I don\’t feel it, the Creator blankets me with it.

I\’d like to think the smile of the Creator is like the light of the sun — no wonder various cultures have worshipped a sun god. I like to sit outside with my eyes closed and my face to the sun: in the moment, as a gentle breeze wafts past, I am kissed by my Creator, warmed inside and out (in Southern California, such warming can only be taken in short bursts for much of the year!), and reminded of how small I am. Who am I, to be considered in any way? Yet, the Creator smiles on me.

And then I am reminded of the song they sing at Communion at my mother\’s church. She is part of the United Methodist tradition; historically, her family has been connected to it for a couple centuries now. My grandfather was a minister and the church\’s original name is my mother\’s family name. There are legends about Berry\’s Chapel and unfortunately, much of what has been said is true (the ghost stuff, not so much …). United Methodists, in some ways, are to me much like other formal traditions, such as Catholic and Presbyterian, in that they have certain processes that always occur during the order of service. At her church, they usually sing \’Let Us Break Bread Together\’:

Let Us Break Bread Together

The United Methodist Hymnal Number 618
Text: Afro-American spiritual (Acts 2:42) 
Music: Afro-American spiritual; adapt. and arr. by William Farley Smith, 1986 
Tune: LET US BREAK BREAD, Meter: 10 10 with Refrain

(courtesy, HymnSite.com)

Yes, this is what knowing that the Creator smiles on me is all about … when I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me …