The Beloved

I'm reading a great book right now - Henri Nouwen's "Life of the Beloved". In it he says : "The great spiritual battle begins - and never ends-with the reclaiming of our chosenness. Long before any human being saw us, we are seen by God's loving eyes. Long before anyone heard us cry or laugh, we are heard by our God who is all ears for us. Long before any person spoke to us in this world, we are spoken to by the voice of eternal love. Our preciousness, uniqueness, and individuality are not given to us by thouse who meet us in clock-time - our brief chronological existence - but by the One who has chosen us with an everlasting love, a love that existed from all eternity and will last through all eternity."  I'm practicing being the Beloved. It is hard to continually live there but I figure the more I practice, the more it will seep into the fabric of who I am.