大象传媒

A reflection and prayer to start the day with Reverend Catherine De Souza, Senior Leader of City Church in Cardiff.

Good morning.

In recent days a number of people have shared their stories and memories of Her Majesty the Queen. One of my personal favourites is the story of when the Queen and her protection officer were out walking in the grounds of Balmoral and they met some American tourists. The tourists, clearly not recognising Her Majesty, engaged in conversation and asked her whether she had ever met the Queen. She responded by saying she hadn鈥檛, but her protection officer had. Suitably impressed, the tourists asked the Queen to take a photo of them with the officer. The Queen also had her photo taken with them. She is reported to have said afterwards, 鈥淚鈥檇 love to be a fly on the wall when he shows that to his friends in America.鈥�

It鈥檚 a story that makes me smile, but also reminds me that whoever we are, our identity is not found in what other people think, or indeed whether we are recognised or not. The Bible contains many reminders that our identity is in fact found in Christ; that we are valuable and accepted by God, that we are loved and cherished enough to be called his children. That God knows us by name, knows our coming and our going, knows our thoughts and our ways, knows our hopes and our dreams. And He knows our identity because He is the one that created us. We can have confidence that God will continue to remind us who we are in Christ and help us to live in our true identity as those loved and chosen by him.

God, thank you that you created us and you define us. Thank you that our identity is found in following you and being loved by you. In your kindness, would you continue to remind us of who you created us to be and how to live in our true identity as your children. Amen.