Who Do You Say
We Are?
Friday, July 3, 2026
For the theologian Diana L. Hayes, the question “Who am I?” is a central question for people of faith:
Who am I? I am a child of God, whether black, brown, yellow, red, or white, because race does not exist in God. Nor do other divisions exist in God, not those of Muslim, Jew, Christian, Hindu, or other, because God is God for all of humanity, however God is named…. We are all created in God’s own image and likeness, a creation that God declared to be good without caveats. Why am I here on this earth at this time and place? To help bring about God’s kin-dom by recognizing and, more importantly, by affirming my co-createdness with all of humanity and thus the presence of God in all with whom I come into contact. I am called, as all are called, to contribute to the rebuilding of … a community in which all are welcome.
Hayes reflects on what we can learn about love from those who have not experienced belovedness in our families, cultures, and churches:
Those who are the least among us already know the answer to this most critical spiritual question for our time: “Who do you, God, say that I, humanity, am?” This is not because their lives are so simple and childlike … but because they, like Job, have been tested and survived. Their everyday lives are such a constant struggle simply to survive … that they are drawn ever closer to God, who is the answer to all of our longings….
Is it not time for us to learn from the example of those who have suffered the most and yet have a rich, nurturing life of the spirit that enables them to persevere in their daily struggle?….
We are all our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper. God has placed upon all of us the responsibility of following in God’s own footsteps, of loving all people as God loves us, of seeking their greater good rather than our own individual success. We can only do this by letting go of the “isms” that continue to plague humanity—negativisms based on race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, and religious creed. We must begin to remove the blinders we have placed on ourselves that restrict our vision, blinding us to the light of God shining through the face of all God’s people. We must come together as one, seeking to build a community of the faithful that rejects a narrow, dualistic perception of life.
“Who do you, God, say that we are?” We are your children, lost and wandering in a confusing and confused world, but never abandoned, never forsaken, never alone. We are your chosen ones, given knowledge of life and death, and the ability through your grace to use that knowledge to choose life in all of its diversity and to transform this world into your reign. This is our challenge for the coming century and perhaps for the new millennium. May we continue to be blessed with the wisdom and love of God in order to reclaim our full life in the Spirit and be transformed.
Reference:
Diana L. Hayes, No Crystal Stair: Womanist Spirituality (Orbis Books, 2016), 77, 78–79.
=============================================================================
You Are My Beloved – An “original” devotional from Claude AI that pairs with the Hayes reading
Friday, July 3, 2026
Before Jesus does anything—before a single sermon, a single miracle, a single act of healing—he is baptized. And as he comes up out of the water, a voice speaks from heaven: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11).
Notice what has not happened yet. Jesus has not proven himself. He has not fed a crowd or raised the dead or said a wise word. The word beloved arrives before the résumé. Belovedness is not a reward for accomplishment; it is the ground he stands on before he does anything at all.
This is the same truth Diana Hayes points to when she writes that we are “created in God’s own image and likeness, a creation that God declared to be good without caveats.” No caveats. Not good, if. Not beloved, once. Just good. Just beloved.
Most of us live as though the opposite were true—as though love were a wage we earn through usefulness, attractiveness, achievement, or belonging to the right group. We spend our lives trying to prove what was already true of us in the water.
The voice at the Jordan did not speak only to Jesus. It speaks over every person who has ever wondered whether they are enough, whether they belong, whether the divisions others have placed on them are the final word. They are not. Before you had done anything to deserve it or ruin it, the word was already spoken over you: beloved.
The question is not whether God says this over us. The question is whether we will believe it long enough to say it over one another.
Five On Friday – John Chaffee
| 1. “It seems easier to change our facts than to change our schema.” – Dr. Jerome Wagner, Psychologist and Enneagram Author This is probably why, several years ago, the term “alternative facts” entered the public lexicon. When we are presented with new information that challenges our long-held schemas or worldviews, we are more likely to discredit it and seek “alternative” information that reconfirms our original schemas or worldviews. This is exactly why it is so difficult for us to change our minds. The fascinating thing, though, is that the New Testament word for “repent” is metanoia, which actually means to “change your mind.” Deep within the Christian tradition is a commitment, not to alternative facts that bolster our preconceptions and opinions, but to a perpetual openness to new information and to trying to see the world with more and more clarity. And guess what? This is just trivia. Metanoia is Jesus’ literal first word of public ministry in Matthew 4:17. 2. “What if we ceased to pledge our allegiance to the bottom line and stood, instead, with those who line the bottom?” – Father Greg Boyle, SJ, Founder of Homeboy Industries Our commitment to money, to gaining more and more, to the acquisition of material possessions comes at the cost of devaluing other Image-Bearers. In any capitalist society, there are “winners,” and there are “losers.” For someone to be at “the top,” there must inherently be a “bottom” to step on. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus has a “preferential option for the poor.” It is not the rich that he spends the most time with; it is those whom we might consider not worthy of receiving help. In church tradition, we know the names of the two criminals crucified alongside Jesus, Dismas and Gestas. The innocent and righteous God-man, Jesus of Nazareth, in whom, through whom, and by whom all things were created and sustained, became incarnate and consented to being crucified between two criminals. This shows us two things: the humility of God and the willingness to identify with those whom society has discarded and, therefore, are treated inhumanely. It boggles the mind if we think about it. Below is a painting I found called “The Last Sigh of Christ” by Julien Michel Gue. 3. “Those who cannot see Christ in the poor are atheists indeed.” – Dorothy Day, Founder of the Catholic Worker I like this one. Dorothy Day had a way with words. This one is a punch right to the gut. It reminds me of what Richard Rohr says: the mature Christian sees Christ in everyone and everything. 4. “With words preach virtue and with your work, proclaim it.” – Neilos the Ascetic, 5th Century Syrian Theologian About two years ago, I found myself reading the Philokalia. In Greek, “Philokalia” means “love of the good/beautiful.” You have probably heard of “philosophy” or the “love of wisdom.” The Philokalia, however, is the name that Eastern Orthodoxy gives to its collection of ancient sayings and writings of its best saints, mystics, holy fools, theologians, etc. It compiles the best writings from faithful Christians from the 4th to the 15th centuries. Neilos the Ascetic is included in that collection. I’ll be honest, it isn’t an easy read. It does not exactly flow, and there is not a narative structure to the Philokalia. It reads more like an anthology or an appendix that can be read alongside the Bible. In many ways, it can feel like reading the book of Proverbs straight through. All that said, it is interesting to see how much they wrote about the need to consciously choose virtue over vice, the true necessity of each of us to discipline ourselves towards the Good, the True, the Beautiful, and the Loving. The older I get, the more I see how lives are ruined, and there are reverberations that expand out from us when we choose vices over virtues. Sin not only affects us individually but also everyone and everything around us. I did not expect this commentary to become something of a slight exposition on hamartiology, but it is what it is! 5. “Prayer is a long, loving look at the Real.” – Walter Burghart, SJ, Jesuit Theologian This one is hard for me. Often, Reality is too harsh, raw, and repulsive for me to give it a “long, loving look.” There are things that happen in the world that are beyond my comprehension, and that I consider completely outside the bounds of what should be acceptable or allowed. And yet, prayer is giving a “long, loving look” at all of those things I wish I could shut my eyes to, etch out of my field of view, and not have to consider again. |
