13 You are the one who created my innermost parts;
you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb.
14 I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart.
Your works are wonderful—I know that very well.
Reflection
Watching the Olympics this summer, I was once again amazed at the feats the human body can achieve. To watch divers somersault from the 10M platform, gymnasts fly through space off the vault, high jumpers clear more than 7 feet, marathoners finish in just over two hours – these are things I can’t imagine doing. If I’m honest, most days, I just struggle to get through my gym workout.
But what the Olympics proves is that we are capable of so much more. We are “marvelously set apart,” or, in the language of another translation, “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Whether we are talking about feats of physical performance, artistic creativity, science and engineering, or emotional resilience – humans are amazing. This is a truth that, most days, we take for granted.
But this capability is itself an amazing gift of God’s grace. Elsewhere, the psalms describe us as being created just “a little lower than God” (8:5). This implies a level of care that God has invested in us as part of the Creation.
What are we willing to invest to care for ourselves – our bodies, our minds, our spirits?
The vast majority of us will never make it to the Olympics. Most of us will be content to run a 10-minute mile. But the truth remains: we are all “marvelously set apart,” if we are willing to invest in ourselves as God has invested in us.
By Joe Monahan
For Pondering & Prayer
What are you doing to invest in yourself – physically, mentally, spiritually, or emotionally today?
Prayer: God, you have created us for wonderful things. After all, we are all made in your image! Today, help us not to take for granted the beauty and power to be found in being human. Amen.
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