Something occurred to me yesterday as I was listening to our pastor’s homily: The Bible teaches us that God made the many creatures of the earth, large and small. But while he made man and woman, he only made one of me. There has never been a “me” before me, and there will never be a “me” after me. Does that make sense?

I am completely and totally unique. The way I look, the way I think, the way I see the world, all of my attributes and drawbacks have never collectively been in a person before, nor will they ever collectively be in a person henceforth. I am completely distinctive.

It staggers the mind. Or at least it staggered my mind. Apparently I enjoy staggering my own mind more than I enjoy listening to the sermon. Sorry Father. At least I wasn’t thinking about all the gifts I have to wrap.

Here’s the thing: Recognizing my own uniqueness places a lot of responsibility on me. I am too good to be wasted. And maybe I’ve let myself come to believe that everything I’ve had to give to the world, I’ve already given. I am a mother, but my son is grown and takes care of himself and his family. I had a profession in which I was pretty successful and mostly content, but I’m now retired and don’t have to worry about job performance.

So I can sit back and hand the reigns over to the younger people, right?

The thing is, I think our uniqueness provides us the opportunity to do good things. Every day. Our kids may be grown, but our grandkids aren’t. I can offer them a listening ear, love without judgement, and a cookie jar full of the Oreos they don’t get at home…..

I might not get paid to write like I did when I was gainfully employed, but people tell me very often that they enjoy reading my blog and that I often make them laugh. I can pray and forgive others and be generous every day.

It’s that time when I am saying goodbye to my Colorado peeps and looking forward to saying hello to my AZ peeps. A new beginning of sorts. I haven’t worn out my welcome yet in AZ. Seems like a good time to figure out a good way to use my uniqueness to be helpful and productive and use my gifts for good.