Belonging and Value

I came across this quote from William Barclay this morning, as I was searching through my email. For some reason, it really struck me.

It frequently happens that the value of a thing lies in the fact that someone has possessed it. A very ordinary thing acquires a new value, if it has been possessed by some famous person. In any museum we will find quite ordinary things-clothes, a walking-stick, a pen, pieces of furniture-which are only of value because they were possessed and used by some great person. It is the ownership which gives them worth. It is so with the Christian. The Christian may be a very ordinary person, but he acquires a new value and dignity and greatness because he belongs to God. The greatness of the Christian lies in the fact that he is God's.

This quote from Barclay reminds me of the majestic opening question of the Heidelberg Catechism from 1563.

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Christ has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

I am feeling more and more this fall the weight of belonging to no one. Both my parents have passed away in the last 18 months, and even though my wife and kids are a great source of comfort and affection, I still have this feeling of being alone. And yet, these words from Barclay and Heidelberg, written four centuries apart, bring me some comfort, in that I belong to God.