The question of identity is a perennial throughout human history. Who am I? Elizabeth confronts that question during Mary’s visitation. How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Like Elizabeth all too often we can’t imagine ourselves as worthy of the presence of God in our lives. But the constant message of scripture is that our identity is that of “beloved of God.” The Old Testament book, The Song of Songs, uses romantic, even erotic imagery to talk about the love that God has for us. The dilemma of finding our true identity is a constant theme in the world’s literature: the ugly duckling, the prince and the pauper, Luke Skywalker. In these days before Christmas let us claim our identity as beloved of God since we have Jesus as our elder brother.
