Something a pastor named Ann Hallstein wrote about her childhood really struck me. When she was six years old, her mother was expecting another baby. Her whole world was about to change. One day, her grandmother came home with a book from the library listing Christian names and their meanings. Her grandmother found Ann’s name, picked her up, and sat her down in her lap. She told her that the name Ann came from the Hebrew name Hannah, which means, “God has favored me.” Ann writes, “Imagine telling a 6-year-old she is favored by God? It has never left me.”

I remember when I was in seminary we were introduced to a theologian named Karl Barth. He wrote 13 volumes of Christian Dogmatics, among many other hefty works. His writing is so dense I could spend an hour reading a single paragraph.

Not too many years before his death, he was asked if he could summarize his theology. He responded, in all seriousness, using the words of a well-loved children’s song: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” It’s beautiful that years of research, writing, and study could lead him to a simple but profound truth. It is in fact the basis of our faith.

My prayer today is that you would know God’s love for you in Christ in the very deepest part of your being. And may you share that love with a world desperately in need.

Let us pray: Gracious God, even in the midst of the challenges of everyday life, we thank you for your love for us. Help us to accept this love and this grace. May it flow into our lives, change our worldviews, animate our actions, and overflow back into the world around us. Help us to be healers and peacemakers. We ask in Christ’s name. Amen.

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