Kristin Tovar

“It was through our tribal law that I died to our tribal law, so that I could be set free to live for the Great Spirit. When the Chosen One died on the cross, I died with him. My life is no longer my own, for my life belongs to the Chosen One, who lives in me. The life I now live in my weak human body, I live by trusting the faithfulness of the Son of the Great Spirit, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” 
—Galatians 2:19-20, First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament

Dear friends,

Today’s passage reminds us that the Chosen One (Jesus) has liberated us to live a new life and embody a new way of being, marked by freedom and trust.

In identifying with this new life, we accept the gift of grace from the One who loved us and are invited to lay down our strivings. We no longer need to worry about measuring up to belong, to be loved. Tireless labor to work our way up to the law is unnecessary; now we begin this new life as welcomed and set free. It is from this place that we operate in the world.

I have recently come across repetition of messaging encouraging humans to “do better” or “be better.” While it is not wrong to encourage this, my prayer is that we would continually unwrap the unique gift we have as followers of the Chosen One in living first and foremost as the Great Spirit’s beloveds.

Being loved naturally inspires me to share that same love with others and to find rest in the chaos of life. It’s more effective and powerful than shaming or being convinced into being “better.” I transform by being held in this Love.

This transformation can feel slow at times. It can feel messy as I bumble about returning again and again to the call to live out of grace and my belovedness rather than working to prove myself as good. I rest and find peace in this love that renews me for good works such as mercy, truth-telling, and justice.

We are more aware of suffering than ever before, as we hold devices in our pockets providing endless notifications of the horrors seen across the globe, and we experience a collective unveiling and exposure of the shadows of abuse of power in the world. We are confronted by it daily. It can become overwhelming on the days when it feels like evil is winning. 

What will sustain us in times like these?

For me, it is remembering that I am called to good works that spring forth out of freedom and love in this new life. Ultimately, I live in trust that the faithfulness of the Chosen One will not abandon this great work of Love in me or in the world. 

May we live out of our belovedness today and every day.

—Kristin