Release Date: November 5th, 2025Through the Years, Being the Beloved
- by Chris Hutton
A Manitoba Mennonite named Andrew Unger recently nailed it when he satirized a Mennonite pastor in Leamington, ON doing an 18-inning long sermon in honour of the Blue Jays recent extended World Series game. He described our culture here in our town so well!
While the Blue Jays have certainly been a buzz in Leamington, ON, we have more recently engaged in conversations about aging and prayer. Hear me out as to why these two go together.
God was present the entire time, saying “You are my Beloved Child, and I am well pleased with you.”
The Leamington Mennonite Home has long been an institution in our community providing care, support, and life to us as we age. But as we age, who do we become?
We’ve discovered that many of our anxieties about aging revolve around a loss of independence and a loss of identity. If I cannot drive myself anywhere I like whenever I like, then who am I?
Who am I if I can no longer do things? Who am I if I can no longer impress people with the things I do? Who am I if I depend on others for my wellbeing?
Years ago, Catholic priest and writer, Henri Nouwen, left his fast-paced, highly successful job to work at the L’Arche community for people with disabilities in Trosly, France. He left his job because he was burning out, and he felt he didn’t have healthy relationships with others and with God.
At L’Arche, he met a young man named Adam. Adam could neither speak, nor move on his own. Adam needed everything provided for him.
Through his relationship with Adam, Henri discovered two things:
- Adam could not do all of the things we do to appear important and to appear worthy of love (ie. have a job, do things for people, say impressive words, etc.).
- Adam was just as beloved by God as Henri was beloved by God.
Adam did not have to do anything to earn value and identity in God’s eyes. God simply viewed Adam as his child that he delighted in. Henri learned that whenever he tried to define his identity by what he did, what he had, or what other people said about him, God was present the entire time, saying “You are my Beloved Child, and I am well pleased with you.”
Henri realized the futility of living a life of hurry, noise, and busyness for just a scrap of love from the voices of the world. In the meantime, God, the Creator and the Source of Love, was offered a love and an identity that surpassed everything.
How can we develop a life of relationship with God now?
As we recounted Adam’s story in our conversations, and considered the changes in life we experience as we age, we realized that we need to pray. We need to pray to hear the voice of God that says, “Before you did anything, before you had anything, and before anyone ever said something good about you, I created you and called you Beloved. I know you, and you are my Beloved Child.”
This is your identity.
As we age and lose our ability to drive, or lose our ability to do things, we do not become useless and unworthy of love. We remain the Beloved of God; worthy of receiving the gift of being loved.
Some of us may be young now, and the losses we experience when we age may seem a long way off, but how can we develop a life of relationship with God now? How do we establish our identity now so that as our loved ones age, we can care for them fully; and so that as we age, we may receive love fully?
My suspicion is that many of our anxieties today reside in what we do, what we have, and what others say about us. Many of the things we do to hurt others come from our fears around these anxieties.
If we can pray, be still, and hear the voice of God tell us who we are right now, just maybe we will learn why the Bible constantly echoes with the refrain “Be not afraid;” and we will learn how to love others and ourselves with “the peace of God that passes beyond all understanding.”
-Chris Hutton is pastor at North Leamington United Mennonite Church.