I saw very certainly…that before God made us, he loved us, which love was never abated and never will be. And in this love he has done all his works, and in this love he has made all things profitable to us, and in this love is life everlasting. Bl Julian of Norwich

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. St. Augustine

Blessed Julian was a fourteenth century mystic whose visions are documented in Revelations of Divine Love. This quote seems to capture the essence of the nature of God’s love as a powerful transformative force: unconditional, eternal, and forgiving.

When we read quotes such as these, the presence of the word “us” may give the sense that human beings are mass-produced or of a “generic” quality. However, St. Augustine reminds us of the singularity of God’s love.  It is so easy to forget the reality of our uniqueness and the particularity of our “who-ness”. When people fall in love, they may joyfully tell others that they have found “the one”. (“I could search the whole world over and I know I will never find another you” The Seekers, 1964). I sometimes wonder if our major spiritual task is to trust that the Great Mystery connects with our exquisite uniqueness, an affirmation that it is “good to be you, just as you are”. (Echoes of the children’s television program, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood)

Some might argue that an over-focus on the uniqueness of oneself leads to a kind of narcissism. However, when that uniqueness is grounded in a trust in God’s love, it is not a far leap to know that everyone is uniquely created and loved by the one God. It’s unfortunate that in the process of child rearing, parents, teachers, and other caregivers will sometimes give a direct or implied message: “You are not all that special”. Perhaps that helps explain why many kids grow up with low self-esteem.

However, St. Augustine’s use of “as if” in relation to our uniqueness in God reminds us of the paradoxical nature of God’s love. At one and the same time, God loves humanity as a whole and each of us as an individual.  It is no different than the love of parents for their children: as members of their family and in their uniqueness. (Family photo albums typically show both the individual children as well as the whole family) Parents don’t love one child more than another, but take delight in the uniqueness of each.  Love is simply not “measurable”.

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If it is true that human life is in the hands of God, it is no less true that these are loving hands, like those of a mother who accepts, nurtures, and takes care of her child. St. John Paul II

I can recall a time when someone had just come from being present to a dying person and mentioning that an attending priest had told the family that the person “is in good hands”. I was struck by the beauty and comfort in those words and come to mind during times of crisis.

St. John Paul reminds us that those hands have a loving quality, one no different than that of a mother who, after the pains of childbirth, typically welcomes her child and unconditionally “accepts, nurtures, and takes care”.

Some may remember the popular song, From a Distance (written by Julie Gold, 1987 and popularized by Bette Midler) which states that “God is watching us from a distance”. The song reached #1 status in the Adult Contemporary category. The lyrics do express an important theme: that when the earth is viewed from far away, one sees a unity and harmony not apparent at ‘ground level’. However, I’ve often wondered how many listeners would be imagining a God that is the precise opposite of what the late Pope had written. One can only hope that this beautiful song  does not exacerbate a very human fear: that God’s love is “far away”.