I recently watched a show called “Master Class” featuring one of my favorite people in the world, Dr. Maya Angelou. She was the guest for this episode and she shared some of the things she is learning in life. Before I go on I have got to say, she is a woman of grace and dignity. Her life represents an amazing life filled with both promise and tragedy but mostly a life lived with purpose secure in the knowledge of who she is. Not what she does, but who she is. I naturally was interested in how she had become such a person.

In this Master Class she talks about her life. She shares about the difficult days and dark clouds she’s experienced but more importantly she shares about her “rainbows”. She reminds us that God made a promise that “troubles don’t last always”. Dr. Angelou also says that when people say “You Can’t”, we have the choice to say “Yes, I Can”. And when reminiscing about the tragedies of her life, she acknowledges them but does not let them define who she is. So who is she?

She answers that question with only six words: I AM A CHILD OF GOD.

Wow! What a profound statement.

When I live in that knowledge I can live in this world with confidence, security and purpose. I can live out loud the love of God with everyone I meet. I can learn how to love my enemies because God loves me. There will be no strangers. No one will be alien to me; they will just be brothers and sisters I have yet to meet.

Knowing that you are A Child of God may sound simple but it means so much. It’s amazing to think that the same God who made the stars and the moon made you and I. When we live in that knowledge, it changes how we see ourselves and it affects how we see our fellow man. When we grasp the power of that knowledge, there are amazing things we can do.

The fact is you and I are NOT defined by our circumstances. Our identities are not our names, colors, sexes, social classes, political ideologies or any other things.

We are who we are: Children of the Most High God.

Peace and Blessings