The Chosen

To be wanted, valued, and chosen is a great gift. It does good things for our sense of who we are. It gives us confidence that we have something of value to offer the world. Far too many people feel that they are not wanted, valued and chosen. They feel that they have nothing to offer others. Their gifts and talents lay within unclaimed and unopened because they lack confidence to step forward and say, “Here I am”.

Many of us wear masks and pretend to be something other than what we are. We believe that we need to be whatever society values most. The media, especially advertisements suggest we all need to be tall and skinny and have perfect teeth. This is a problem. We come in all kinds of sizes and shapes. One image for beauty is not enough. We are different on the outside and we are uniquely different on the inside where it really matters. We are called to seek the treasure of our own true self and offer that treasure to the world. Living our true life to the best of our ability is the greatest blessing we have to offer others. No one quite like us has ever lived in the past or will be alive in the future. If we spend our time trying to live someone else’s life then we deprive the world of what is uniquely ours to offer. There is a hero within each one of us waiting to be born; a hero that can only emerge when we come to know and love our true selves.

Ben was not anyone’s first choice to go to a world in need of peace. In a line up of prospective heroes Ben would have stood near the end. Everyone, including Ben, thought that a mistake had been made. The Guardian of all worlds knew that there was more to Ben than anyone else could see.